Belief in a fictitious pregnancy can arise in a woman if she really wants a child and is engaged in self-hypnosis. Psychologist Alexander Kichaev told REN TV about this mechanism.
“She can make herself feel like I'm pregnant. Thus, it seems to compensate for its evolutionary role. “I’m still not barren, I’m capable of giving birth,” the channel's interlocutor explained.
He noted that sometimes a false pregnancy can be a sign of mental illness and multiple personality disorder. In this case, the person will pay attention to various signs in order to confirm the pregnancy with their help.
In Russia, cases of false pregnancy are more common in the North Caucasus, usually in mountainous areas and rural areas. There are traditions according to which the main role of women is in motherhood and procreation. Deception in such cases acts as a way of calming and self-defense against tacit censure. Sometimes there are also situations when, through pregnancy, a woman tries to manipulate a man, for example, to get married.
Earlier in Dagestan, a scandal erupted after a local resident imitated pregnancy and childbirth, and then told her relatives and her husband that the twins were born died. During the funeral, the men opened the shrouds and found dolls in them instead of babies. Later, the woman admitted that she went to the deception so as not to upset her husband. According to her, she herself believed in her own pregnancy, her belly grew and she felt a stirring in it.