Globally, depression is a leading cause of illness and disability. Over 264 million individuals worldwide are affected, with at least 15% of all men and 25% of all women needing some form of therapy at some time during their lives.
Contraceptive pill side-effects on mental health and depression has long been discussed. While some women choose not to use contraceptives because of its impact on their mood, study results remain uncertain.
For this study, over 250,000 women from UK Biobank were followed from birth through menopause for this research project. Data was gathered regarding contraceptive pill usage, depression diagnoses received and symptoms experienced before diagnosis was made.
Progestogen and estrogen-containing combined contraceptive pills were examined. Progestogen is an analogous compound to progesterone hormone that inhibits ovulation as well as thickening cervical mucus to stop sperm from getting into the uterus; estrogen thins out the uterine lining to impede fertilized eggs implanting successfully into their host uteri.
Although contraception offers many advantages for women, both medical professionals and individuals should be informed of its side effects as outlined by research studies such as this one.
According to a study, women who began using contraceptive pills during their teenage years experienced 130% higher rates of depression symptoms while the associated increase in adult users was 92%.
Contraceptive pills’ effectiveness with teenagers may be linked to puberty-related hormonal shifts and related life experiences. Women in that age range tend to be more responsive than other age groups to hormonal fluctuations and life experiences that involve hormone fluctuations due to having already undergone such dramatic hormonal transformations themselves.
Women who continued taking contraceptive pills after two years experienced less of an increase in depression incidence; this wasn’t seen among teenage users of contraceptives; while young people who used contraceptives still experienced an increase in depression even after stopping making use of it – unlike adult users.
External hormones tend to be well tolerated by most women without adverse mood effects; thus combined contraceptive pills remain a popular choice for many.
Contraceptive pills provide women with a means to prevent unplanned pregnancies as well as conditions affecting women, including uterine and ovarian cancer. Some women may, however, experience an increase in depression risk following use.
The study results emphasize a need for greater awareness regarding potential associations between various body systems, including contraceptive pills use and depression risk. According to this research, women considering taking contraceptives must be informed about potential depression risks associated with using them as side-effects of medication use.
As this study only investigated combined contraceptive pills, no definitive statements can be drawn regarding alternative forms of birth control such as contraceptive patches, mini pills, rods, vaginal rings or hormonal spirals.
