![]() Even though this wasn’t a double-blind, placebo-controlled experiment, the researchers took great care with their study design and data analysis and the results were published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the top medical journal in the US. However, the researchers statistically tested for the influence of a number of third variables, and each of these tests found that hormonal contraceptives predicted depression risk even after statistically controlling for these third variables. Or, getting into a new sexual relationship (which can prompt a pill prescription) could be what’s increasing women’s depression risk. ![]() For instance, women who seek medical interventions to prevent pregnancy might be more likely to seek medical interventions for depression. It’s possible the researchers found pill taking and depression to be related because they were each related to some other third variable. This seemed particularly true for non-oral products (such as a patch, vaginal ring or hormonal IUD) and for young women (ages 15 to 19), whose brains are not yet done developing and may be more prone to the influence of hormonal signaling.Īs a scientist, I’m obliged to point out we don’t know for sure that the pills caused this increase. The results of this study, as well as others, suggest the pill can increase some women’s risk of depression. They also found the women on hormonal contraceptives were 40 percent more likely to be prescribed an antidepressant than were women who weren’t prescribed hormonal contraceptives during this time. The researchers found that women on hormonal contraceptives were 50 percent more likely to be diagnosed with depression six months later, compared with women who were not prescribed hormonal contraceptives during this time. They then followed the prescription and mental health records of these women (more than a million of them) for 14 years to see whether going on hormonal contraceptives influenced the likelihood of later being diagnosed with depression or being prescribed antidepressants. In the first of these studies, the researchers looked at the records of all the healthy, nondepressed women living in Denmark between the ages of 15 and 34. Because all Danish citizens have a unique personal identification number, researchers have been able to link individual people’s data across different registers, giving them access to tons of information about patterns of health and social behavior in a whole population.įrom these registers, we’ve learned valuable lessons about the powerful effects that the birth control pill can have on mood. The Scandinavian nation of Denmark is home to a number of nationwide registers, collections of data from its citizens on different health and social issues. And even though some women’s doctors may tell them that those mood changes aren’t real or important, a growing body of research suggests otherwise. Sometimes it’s intolerable anxiety other times, it’s intolerable depression or maybe both simultaneously. Almost half of all women who go on the pill stop using it within the first year because of intolerable side effects, and the one most frequently cited is unpleasant changes in mood. Mood-related issues like anxiety and depression are super-common among women on the pill. But if these things happen to you, it doesn’t mean you’re crazy it just means you’re on the wrong pill. For some women, being on the pill can magnify these feelings, leading to anxiety disorders and depression. Life is hard and can make anyone feel anxious and overwhelmed at times. To start with, all of us feel a little crazy sometimes. It would be impossible for them not to.īack to the question. Women’s sex hormones influence women’s moods. This might be the world’s oldest cliché about women, but that doesn’t make it any less true. In fact, the question that many of us have about the pill: “Why does the pill make me crazy?”īefore I get into what the research says about all this, let me just address the elephant in the room - the whole thing about women’s sex hormones influencing mood. Most women know at least one or two other women who have had a bad reaction to the pill. Hill explains what happens to your brain on birth control. ![]() Dingding Hu If you think your contraception is making you anxious or depressed, you’re not imagining things.
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