Exploring the Impact of Psychological Stress on Endometriosis

Oyedayo Phillips Akano, O O Oladapo, Onyinye Ijeoma Obileke, Joy Chinwe Ezenwafor, Anjolaoluwa Jacobs-Aje, Bayo Olufunso Adeoye, Ayodeji David Adeoye, Opeyemi Adebola Adetunji, Aderonke Kehinde Ademoye, Adeyinka Samson Akinyo
In: Fertility, Gynecology and Andrology · 2025 · vol. 5(1) · doi:10.5812/fga-151749 · W4410996726
article OA: hybrid CC0 ⤵ 1 in-corpus citation
🔓 Open OA copy Full text JSON View on OpenAlex View at publisher
⚙ AI-generated summary by gemini-2.5-flash-lite, 2026-06-08 ⓘ

This literature review found that psychological stress amplifies pain perception and inflammatory responses in endometriosis by activating the sympathetic nervous system and altering pain-related pathways.

One-sentence paraphrase of the abstract; not a substitute for reading it. No clinical advice. How this works

⚙ AI-generated deep summary by claude@2026-06, 2026-06-10 · read from full text ⓘ

The paper explores the role of psychological stress in endometriosis by reviewing relevant evidence and outlining potential physiological links between stress and pain. It summarizes endometriosis characteristics and staging, along with categories of disease (peritoneal endometriosis, ovarian endometrioma, and deep infiltrating endometriosis), and describes pain mechanisms including nociceptive, neuropathic, and nociplastic pathways and central sensitization. A major caveat is that the provided text reads as a conceptual/evidence-synthesis narrative rather than reporting original study methods or results, so specific effect estimates and study limitations are not clearly stated. This paper is centrally about endometriosis — it specifically examines psychological stress and its potential impact through pain-related mechanisms.

Read from the paper's body, not the abstract. Not a substitute for reading the paper. No clinical advice. How this works

Abstract

Context: Endometriosis is an intricate gynaecological ailment characterized by the presence of tissue outside the uterus that resembles endometrial tissue, resulting in substantial discomfort and irritation. The exact cause of the condition is still uncertain; however, probable factors such as retrograde menstruation and immunological responses are believed to play a role. Psychological stress has been proposed to impact how endometriosis patients perceive pain and experience inflammatory reactions, thereby worsening their symptoms and overall quality of life. Evidence Acquisition: An extensive analysis of current literature was undertaken to investigate the interaction between psychological stress, pain perception, and inflammatory responses in women diagnosed with endometriosis. We conducted a thorough search of databases such as PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar to identify important papers and reviews that specifically examined the physiological and psychological factors involved in pain and inflammation associated with endometriosis. Data were analyzed to ascertain the influence of stress on these variables and to uncover probable pathways connecting stress with symptoms of endometriosis. Results: The review highlights how psychological stress exacerbates pain perception and inflammatory responses in women affected by endometriosis. The study revealed that stress activates the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and leads to heightened levels of cortisol, which, in turn, contribute to increased inflammation and sensitivity to pain. Stress also impacts the secretion of naturally occurring pain-relieving substances in the body and alters the functioning of the central nervous system, thereby further affecting pain perception. Moreover, it has been demonstrated that chronic stress exacerbates symptoms and contributes to the growth of endometriotic lesions by triggering persistent inflammatory reactions. Conclusions: Psychological stress is an important factor in influencing both pain perception and the body’s inflammatory responses in endometriosis. Effective stress management techniques are crucial for reducing discomfort and inflammation associated with the disease. Interventions targeting both the psychological and physiological components of stress have the potential to improve treatment outcomes and enhance the quality of life for women experiencing endometriosis. Subsequent investigations should prioritize the development of integrated methodologies that combine stress reduction strategies with traditional therapies for endometriosis.
Full text 1,927 characters · extracted from oa-html · click to expand
1. Context 2. Evidence Acquisition 3. Results 3.1. Endometriosis 3.1.1. Symptoms of Endometriosis Symptoms of endometriosis (3); this figure shows the symptoms associated with endometriosis. 3.1.2. Pathophysiology of Endometriosis | Stages | Description | |---|---| | One | This minor illness is characterized by isolated implants. Adhesions are not present. | | Two | This is a modest type of the disease where superficial implants cover the ovaries and peritoneum. None of the adhesions were noticeable. | | Three | The contemporary condition is characterized by several implants, both highly intrusive and superficial. It is possible to develop adhesions on the fallopian tubes and ovaries. | | Four | Multiple deep and superficial implants, enormous ovarian endometriomas, and other symptoms are indicative of severe illness. Dense adhesions are usually found. | a This table outlines the four stages of endometriosis, ranging from minimal to severe, based on the extent of endometrial tissue growth and the presence of adhesions. Stages of endometriosis (18); A, minimal endometriosis with four peritoneal endometriotic lesions (white arrows) on the right pelvic side wall; B, extensive endometriosis with bowel adhesions to the uterus; C, superficial red peritoneal endometriotic lesion and hyperemia; D, endometrioma (chocolate cyst) in the left ovary; E, deep bladder nodule (black arrows) and red, brown, and black peritoneal endometriotic lesions (white arrows). 3.1.3. Types of Endometriosis 3.1.3.1. Peritoneal Endometriosis 3.1.3.2. Ovarian Endometrioma 3.1.3.3. Deep Infiltrating Endometriosis 3.1.4. Diagnosis of Endometriosis 3.2. Stress and Its Potential Impact on Health 3.3. Physiological Mechanisms of Pain 3.3.1. Pain Mechanisms 3.3.1.1. Nociceptive Pain Mechanism 3.3.1.2. Neuropathic Pain Mechanism 3.3.1.3. Nociplastic Pain Mechanism 3.3.1.4. Central Sensitization Factors affecting pain perception (22)

Text is read by the "Ask this paper" AI Q&A widget below. Extraction quality varies by source — PMC NXML preserves structure cleanly, OA-HTML may include some navigation residue, and OA-PDF can have broken hyphenation. The publisher copy (via DOI) is the canonical version.

My notes (saved in your browser only)

⚙ Ask this paper AI returns verbatim quotes from the full text · source: oa-html ⓘ

Answers must be backed by verbatim quotes from this paper's full text. Hallucinated quotes are dropped automatically; if no verbatim passage answers the question, we say so. How this works

Condition tags

endometriosis

Citation neighborhood

Papers in the corpus that this work cites (lower rings, blue) and that cite this one (upper rings, green). Dot size scales with the paper's in-corpus citation count — bigger dot = more influential within the endo/adeno field. Click a dot to open that paper. [ expand to 2 hops ] — adds papers reached through this work's immediate citers/citees. Heavier; up to 60 extra dots.

References (47)

Cited by (1)

Source provenance

openalex
last seen: 2026-06-10T17:14:06.276822+00:00
License: CC0 · commercial use OK