What to Do If You Think Birth Control Is Affecting Your Mood
Some women say that hormonal contraception makes them feel depressed, irritable, or just plain weird. But these effects aren’t always found in scientific research, so it’s hard to tell if it’s your pill or something else entirely.
As Casey Guerin writes on BuzzFeed Life, of four recent major studies on birth control and mood control, two were unsuccessful and two showed that women using hormonal contraception were more likely to have positive mood changes. This is a tricky topic:
One of the major limitations is that it is difficult to prove that any changes in mood or mental health (which are so individual and difficult to identify in the first place) are actually the result of hormonal contraception rather than a million other factors that affect the life of every person, says [obstetrician-gynecologist Alissa] Dweck. Not to mention, a lot of people already have a preconceived notion that hormonal drugs can change your mood, so it could lead to a self-fulfilling prophecy, or just make you attribute your strange symptoms to the pill and not something else ( for example, you ” you are very nervous, overworked, sick, etc.).
It is also possible that the pill only affects mood in some people. The2013 Psychoneuroendocrinology study tested only women who had a history of mood problems while taking pills. Those who took the contraceptive pill cycle had more symptoms of depression and mood swings than those who took the inactive pill. (One caveat to these results: Participants who took the pills also reported physical symptoms such as bloating and breast tenderness, so we can’t completely rule out the placebo effect : they might know which pill they were taking.)
So, what can you do if you think your mood is getting worse due to contraception? Talk to your doctor and be open-minded if they suggest checking other aspects of your life for an explanation – maybe stress at work is affecting your mood, or maybe you develop depression or another mood disorder that is not related to birth … control. Your doctor can also help you explore other options , such as a non-hormonal IUD or a different version of the pill. Follow the link below to learn more about what we know about birth control and mood control.
Here’s How Birth Control Really Affects Your Mood | BuzzFeed
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