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Your Contraceptives Can Affect Your Mental Health

By HERWriter
 
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Best Birth control for anxiety and the best birth control for depression? via pexels

With the affordability of contraceptives for many women under the Affordable Care Act, it might be tempting to rush in to the doctor to get a prescription.

But first it’s important to know how different contraceptives can affect not only your overall physical health, but also your mental health.

Contraceptives come in many forms, such as the birth control pill and IUD, so each type could potentially have varying side effects depending on the individual. Experts provide some benefits and downfalls of contraceptives in regard to mental health.

Dr. Wendie Trubow, a board certified gynecologist and quality director at Visions HealthCare, said in an email that birth control pills especially can have the ability to affect mental health.

“Any contraceptive that contains hormones has the potential to [impact] a woman's mental health due to the effect synthetic hormones can have on a woman's body,” Trubow said. “For any woman who is prone to depression, anxiety, sadness, or [mood] swings, the hormone-containing contraceptives can magnify those responses.”

“The mechanism is complicated, and involves the woman's innate state of health, her overall toxic burden, and the way her liver processes and her gut excretes the hormones she has taken,” she added.

“Additionally, oral contraceptives inhibit ovulation, which can blunt a woman's sexual drive. This can be distressing for many women and their partners, who don't understand why their sex drive is suddenly diminished.”

For women who are already experiencing mental health problems before taking contraceptives, it can be a gamble to starting taking pills with hormones.

“Any woman who has a history of depression, anxiety, panic disorders, mood swings or seasonal affective disorder should consider how well she manages her mental health prior to beginning a hormone-containing contraceptive, because for a subset of women, taking this type of contraceptive can worsen an underlying mental health issue,” Trubow said.

For women who experience negative side effects from birth control pills that contain hormones, there are other contraceptive alternatives, such as the intrauterine device (IUD), which can be found with or without hormones.

Trubow considers the IUD to be a highly effective method. Other options include diaphragms, condoms and tubal ligation. For women who do decide on contraceptives with hormones, there are ways to eliminate other potential negative side effects.

“It is very important to optimize the function of her liver and intestines by avoiding processed foods, detoxifying the diet and taking supplements that improve the liver's function,” Trubow said.

Dr. Ingrid Rodi, an associate clinical professor of OBGYN at the Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, said in an email that birth control pills have some beneficial effects for women.

“Women are very anxious not to have an unplanned/unwanted pregnancy,” Rodi said. “Contraceptives allow women control over their reproductive lives.”

There are also more intense symptoms that birth control can help with.

“Some women have PMS -- anxiety/depression/irritability just prior to the menstrual period,” Rodi said. “Hormonal contraceptives, particularly when taken continuously, can reduce the severity of the symptoms.”

Additionally, more control over their own bodies is always beneficial for women.

“Affordability of contraception will have a positive [effect] on mental health because more women will have more control over when they get pregnant,” Rodi said.

“Particularly women with mental health issues need to carefully plan pregnancies to optimize the outcome for them and the babies. Access to contraception will help that.”

Researchers at Harvard Medical School conducted a study to determine if oral contraceptives impact mood.

They found that for most women there are no mood changes after going on the pill. However, a smaller percentage of women (16.3 percent) out of the overall sample of 658 participants, experienced a worsening of their moods.

In addition, there are women with personal accounts of negative experiences with birth control. Lauren Vork shared on Yahoo! Voices that she suffered from depression and anxiety after she started taking hormonal birth control. After she stopped taking the pill, her life returned to normal.

Jill Foster shared her struggle with the birth control pill Microgynon on the Daily Mail online. She had “mood swings and uncharacteristic tearful outbursts.” Her relationship almost ended because of this along with her lack of sexual desire.

In her article, she included stories of other women who have emotionally suffered from taking the pill as well.

If you take contraceptives, has your mental health worsened, improved or stayed the same? Share your stories below.

Sources:

Trubow, Wendie. Email interview. August 21, 2012. http://www.visionshealthcare.com/test-post

Rodi, Ingrid. Email interview. August 20, 2012.
http://www.rodimd.com

Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Women’s Mental Health. Harvard Medical School. Do Oral Contraceptives Cause Mood Changes? August 23, 2012. Web.
http://www.womensmentalhealth.org/posts/do-oral-contraceptives-cause-mood-changes

Vork, Lauren. Birth Control and Depression: What You Might Not Know. Web. August 23, 2012.
http://voices.yahoo.com/birth-control-depression-might-not-know-2578819.html?cat=70

Foster, Jill. How the Pill messes with women’s minds. Web. August 23, 2012.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2051085/How-contraceptive-pill-messes-womens-minds-Rage-despair-low-sex-drive-.html

Reviewed August 24, 2012
by Michele Blacksberg RN
Edited by Jody Smith

Add a Comment26 Comments

EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

The nurse from my doctor's office called back and said my birth control could definitely be the culprit. She said when it comes to generics they only have to be 25% equivalent the the original brand to qualify. That is just crazy to me. She called me in a new prescription with the instructions not to give me the generic. I skipped my pill last night and now it has been almost 48 hours after my last pill and I already feel so much better. I am hesitant to even take the new prescription, but I have been on that one for so long and never had any problems. I have my appointment next month for my Paragard. I am ready for something that is hormone free. Thanks for sharing your story, because I really thought I was finally cracking from the stress of job, even though I have been through so much worse and never had panic attacks.

November 6, 2015 - 2:05pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

Birth control has the opposite effect on me. I have suffered from anxiety disorders and panic attacks due to my emitophobia since around the age of 10-12. My anxiety was so unmanageable and spurred on by my phobia that I suffered from anorexia for over three years because of my intense fear of vomiting. I started using nuvaring at 18 and withing a month felt like my anxiety was completely manageable. I got off of birth control about a year ago (for no reason other than I just haven't scheduled a gyno visit and 2mo turned into 6mo turned into a year) and my anxiety has slowly started coming back to where I had gone from not having a panic attack in over three years to having 3 within the last year (and those are just the I-have-to-stop-everything-and-shake-in-my-bathroom-for-three-hours-until-i-can-breath-again-and-then-pass-out-from-exhaustion attacks, not the daily on the verge of a panic attack feeling.). I am going to get back on BC to regulate my hormones because it makes me more comfortable to be on BC than to use antianxiety medications. Everyone's different, but if being on birth control makes you feel the way I feel without it definitely get off of BC because severe anxiety is crippling and terrible and I wouldn't wish it on my worst enemy.

July 26, 2015 - 3:09pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

I have panic disorder and generalized anxiety disorder. Antidepressant/antianxiety med at max dose is still not fully squashing my symptoms so I wanted to try and fix it with birth control. Which pull did you find the most success in controlling your anxiety?

November 16, 2015 - 8:51pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

Anyone who thinks that either one's emotional or physical well-being is worth sacrificing for a relationship is a naïve, self-enslaving breeding hound. Artificial uteri are not the stuff of science-fiction. Tubal ligations and hysterectomies should be a viable option to anyone cursed with female reproductive organs. Those who claim our bodies to be sacred are truly untermensch who should be sent back in time to live and breed with our primate ancestors. Hopefully, this should allow them to attenuate their own unwelcome humanity to a degree satisfactory to them.

April 30, 2015 - 4:57pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I previously had a panic attack and anxiety before I went on birth control for my cramps, and while it could be debilitating some days, it was quick to handle after some self-coaching. However, once I was on the pill, it didn't take long for me to become obsessive about the stupidest things, and to have nightmares about death and killings. I went to two therapists that didn't help, neither did my gyno. So finally I just stopped it. And my mood is elevated, my anxiety has lowered and I'm in a content place. The only thing that sucks is the extremely painful cramps but I'll get used to it again.

April 26, 2015 - 6:30am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I also felt the same way. After 3 months of taking the pills i was not myself anymore. I started feeling anxious and doubtful over every single thing my husband did. I felt the urge to ask him questions and even to the point of having him swear for God or the bible. I was paranoid and my neck would hurt everyday if i didnt relieve the anxiety. I looked for professional help and with some therapies the anxiety seemed to go away. Not completely but it lessened. However, i am still on the pill but i want to get off it for a while to see if a difference can be noticed. I am on aubra

April 15, 2015 - 1:09am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I started taking the pill Jolivette this past week. My fourth day on the pill, I had a severe anxiety attack where I just wanted to black out. My boyfriend was there calming me and praying with me. I just didn't feel like myself. It feels so much better talking to someone who is familiar with this situation. I have never really experienced anxiety like I have this past week. Occasionally I would have different overwhelming situations involving stress but not so much of it being the way it has been this past week. I have had a hard time concentrating, sitting still, sleeping and just focusing on things I have enjoyed doing. I thought my anxiety was developing from a paper I wrote this past week, but in reality it has nothing to do with that. I thought I needed professional help but now that I have pinpointed the anxiety from the pill, I want to know what I can do to get over this. I hate the feeling of making my boyfriend feel like he is not wanted when that is far from being the case. I feel like at moments I am over it then it comes back out of nowhere. I really want to figure out what is going on up there. Since my major attack Thursday, I have not taken the pill and I REFUSE TOO.

March 27, 2015 - 7:04pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I started taking birth control pills and noticed that I increasingly started feeling sick. One day I had a debilitating panic attack to the point where I could not walk or see. I was rushed to the emergency room. For weeks following I had such bad anxiety that I could not leave my house or talk to anyone. I prayed to God that I would live and make it through. Since I have seen many doctors who have put me on antidepressants which have just made me worse. And sometimes suicidal. This has been going on for almost a year. I feel outside of my body and I am afraid that I will never find my mental sanity again. My anxiety and depression is so bad that I sometimes cannot ride in a car and have random outbursts of crying and anger. Anyone else have this happen? Will it ever go away? I had no mental problems prior to birth control.

February 3, 2015 - 4:17pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

I have been doing a lot of reading and trying to research why I am "like I am", lately! I have been home for almost 2 months... scared to leave the house, scared to talk to people, scared of going to the doctor, scared to drive, can't ride with anyone else, either. I was never like that before! I have PCOS, which is why I had to be put on the pill, after a failed attempt with the Mirena (I almost killed myself). I just don't know what to do next! I'm now on anti-depressants and other meds for panic attacks. Neither seem to be really helping. Have you been able to figure anything out and get help with your problems? I sure hope so. I know how you feel and it's not living, at all. :-(

July 7, 2015 - 9:22pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I had no idea why I became so anxious and depressed shortly after starting to take birth control pills. I was so anxious that I could not
listen to loud noises (even the radio). I began to doubt my mental health! It was only after I stopped taking them that I began to feel better. I guess I was part of that small 16% who are adversely affected.
I wish that I had known that this was a possible side effect (this was many years ago when I first got married). It would have brought me a lot of comfort and I could have possibly explored an alternate method of birth control...... I didn't need to suffer.

January 9, 2015 - 3:03pm
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