There are numerous options for birth control to choose from, and “the Pill” — the combined oral contraceptive pill (COCP) — holds the title for the most used contraceptive. In fact, almost 26 percent of women that are on birth control use the Pill, according to the Guttmacher Institute.
When weighing out the options for which contraceptive to use, in this case COCP, you have to take in all considerations – cost, convenience, if it weakens or stops your cycle and many other other side-effects like weight gain. But have you ever considered the effects COCP might have on your mental health?
JAMA Psychiatry, out of Denmark, recently released a study survey on the negative effects oral contraception has on a woman’s mental health. For a collection of 14 years and 1,061,997 women up to the age of 24, JAMA found that 34 percent of women were more likely to be diagnosed with depression if their pill was strictly progestin.
However, the females that were taking the combined estrogen and progestin pills were 23 percent more likely to be depressed. The combined contraceptive made teenagers 80 percent more likely to face depression.
It has been stated that depression is the main reason women have stopped taking birth control pills. Julie Holland, MD, psychiatrist and author of Moody Bitches told Bustle, “Many of my patients find that they cannot tolerate how emotional the Pill makes them,” leading to many women abandoning the use of the Pill as their birth control.
Jama Psychiatry is seen to be the most looked at study regarding the potential link between oral contraception and depression, however, there are still studies out there that counterpart their study survey. Numerous other studies are published stating that correlation doesn’t necessarily equal causation—just because two things are linked doesn’t mean that one thing directly caused the other.
To sum it all up– if you are a female experiencing depression and believe it may be linked to your birth control, contact your gynecologist and discuss alternative contraceptive options.