Holly Grigg-Spall did not set out to write a book when she first decided to wean herself off of the birth control that was debilitating to her health.
Instead, she was merely writing an article for Easy Living, a British publication, about the dangers of birth control. Grigg-Spall’s research made her realize that the birth control she had been prescribed ten years was not as good for her as she once thought.
“What I was discovering was that this was something I was seemingly comfortable with for 10 years, but I didn’t know why I kept taking. I made a definite connection with the pill and my experiences with anxiety and depression,” Grigg-Spall said.
She started trying to make sense of fertility awareness, different types of non-hormonal birth control and how they could affect her body through an online blog. What she found, as she shared stories of anxiety, depression and overall malaise while on the pill, was that many women felt the same way.
Kim Heller, a sophomore special education major, had a similar experience to Grigg-Spall with the pill.
“I went on the pill and I actually didn’t like it. It made me really anxious and it messed with my body. Within two days of going off of it, I felt relief,” she said.
Melissa Seitz, a sophomore journalism major, agreed.
“I was having anxiety attacks and being extra moody. When it was my placebo week on the pill, the anxiety and depression symptoms on the pill were negated, and so I stopped taking it and switched pills,” she said.
In order to help women like Heller and Seitz, and to sort of fill a void in the women’s health writing industry, Grigg-Spall eventually combined her stories with her research done by herself and others into one book that hit shelves October 7 called Sweetening the Pill.
In her book, Grigg-Spall dissects the pill’s major side effects and determines why despite side effects, women continue to stay on this contraceptive.
According to Sweetening the Pill, birth control can not only cause the obvious side effects such as lowered libido or weight gain, but it also has some hidden side effects like lowered ability to gain muscle, a higher risk for bone loss and a lowered fertility. It makes sense, too. The pill isn’t just something that is taken to relieve menstrual pain – it’s a heavy drug that inhibits parts of the endocrine system from working.
Despite this, many women like Seitz and Heller are still searching to find the right kind of hormonal birth control.’
Grigg-Spall explained that cultural pressures coming from both the pharmaceutical industry and the fear of pregnancy keep women on the pill.
“There’s a whole history of treating women’s reproductive systems as though they need fixing. It’s not your body, it’s the culture that makes you think you should take the pill,” Grigg-Spall said.
Grigg-Spall’s goal, though, is not simply to say screw the patriarchy or burn some bras. She mostly hopes that her voice can allow other women to speak out against feeling poorly as a result of birth control.
“I hope the book will provide validation for women who have had this problem. I want to provide that support and voice to women who don’t want to take birth control,” Grigg-Spall said.
As birth control evolves (and it should – women have been using the pill for over 50 years now!), so will the options that women have, Grigg-Spall hopes.
“Women need to be thinking about alternatives. I hope people examine this more widely than seeing it as a private issue,” Grigg-Spall said.
Photos courtesy of Holly Grigg-Spall