There’s no mystery behind why most sexually active women use some kind of hormonal birth control. When used correctly “the pill” and other methods like it have over a 99% success rate at preventing pregnancy. In fact, it’s one of the most researched drugs on the market today. You could say birth control is kind of like a best friend: reliable and trustworthy. It gives you peace of mind, allowing you to focus on important aspects of your life like work and school, instead of worrying about pregnancy. For many women, birth control has affected their lives in a positive way with regular periods and beautiful acne free skin. But for others, like myself, the pill has become my worst enemy.
A small percentage of women suffer from some of the horrible side effects of using hormonal birth control. From fits of crying to extreme anxiety, I was confused by my body and frustrated with my emotions. I noticed a difference in my overall happiness and I didn’t feel like myself. For a while, I wasn’t sure my birth control was to blame for my uncontrollable moods and feelings, but after having conversations with other girls, I realized I wasn’t alone.
I talked to girls who had gone into a deep depressions, so severe they chose to get off their birth control completely. Others dealt with extreme moods swings and anxiety, describing themselves as feeling “out of control.” After realizing my birth control was the cause of my “crazy” behavior, I started to become aware of what was happening, and had to constantly remind myself, it’s just the birth control. I felt so much better knowing there were other girls who could completely relate to me, that I wasn’t alone, and most importantly that I wasn’t CRAZY.
“I would say, for me, the phrase birth control was a complete hypocrisy because the last thing I had was control. Whatever I was feeling was intensified and I was aware. The scary part was I could not change it no matter how hard I tried.”
“Birth control has actually made my cramps and bloating WORSE! It’s hard to decide if the pros of certainty are outweigh by the terrors that come with the pill!”
“I would find myself having the biggest mood swings and really bad anxiety. It was easy for me to feel really down and I always felt like no one cared or understood me. I got irrationally angry at the smallest things and I would start crying without reason…yeah, I thought I was crazy.”
“It made me ridiculously sad and terrible to be around. It was like the drive to do anything was just gone.”