Psycho-social problems of women who had undergone hysterectomy

esult of her hysterectomy. She was given the option of HRT but she refused itbecause of concerns about possible side effects.Psychologically, Ambika said that she was always short tempered and accordingto her, her temperament improved after the hysterectomy. Before the operation,the pain and discomfort of her condition had made her very angry and irritable.This improved a lot after the operation. Her children noticed no markedimprovement in her nature and were unable to say whether the hysterectomyinfluenced her post-operative behaviour pattern.At work, Ambika’s sole friend reported that Ambika had gone through a turbulenttime at work, in the few months just before the hysterectomy and things got betteronly after nearly two years after the operation. During this time Ambika was foundto be exceptionally short tempered and quarrelsome at work. The frequentabsenteeism from work and the inability to maintain harmonious relationship withother co-workers created many problems in the bank for Ambika. Although manyof the co-workers knew about the operation and the circumstances leading to it,most of them were unwilling to attribute her short-temper to it.Ambika was not mentally prepared for the hysterectomy. She wanted to avoid it atany cost and it was only when she could not lead a normal life that she decided toundergo the hysterectomy. She feared that the operation would result in a loss offemininity. She felt that she will feel less of a woman without her uterus and wasvery depressed before the operation. She used to cry a lot in the days before theoperation. But she never shared her fears and apprehensions with her husband. Shesaid that an emotional bonding was absent between the couple.After the operation she reported that all her fears were unfounded. She felt nodifference and in retrospect she feels that her fears were all baseless. She felt thatshe should have undergone the operation sooner instead of dealing it for more thana year and suffering the pain and discomfort for all that time.