The Link Between The Contraceptive Pill And Long-Term Depression

For a while, the reality of taking the contraceptive pill has meant that women are vulnerable to mental health side effects, something most of us have known about. However, it has been thought that once off the pill the ‘grey cloud’ is lifted, and you feel like your old self again.

This thought has recently been disputed as a new study has found that women who previously used the contraceptive pill whilst in their teenage years have been more likely to suffer from depression later on in life, despite not necessarily taking the pill anymore.

Scientists discovered that 16% of women who took the pill during their teenage years were suffering, or had higher chances of suffering, from depression, compared to 6% who had never taken it and 9% who only begun taking it in their adult years. This study used a sample of 1,236 women between the ages of 20 and 39, testing those who had used it as teenagers, never used it, and recently started using it.

Whilst this link may just show correlation rather than causation, researchers of the study did control other aspects of the women’s lives that could have affected depression such as current relationship status, socioeconomic status, the age of their first period and sexual encounter, and current contraception option.

Previously, studies have mainly looked at the short-term effects of taking the contraceptive pill, especially mental health vulnerability whilst on the pill, rather than long-term effects and mental health changes into adulthood. This research has been significant in changing the way teenagers view their contraceptive options, especially when considering the side effects of the pill, as now long-term mental health problems have surfaced.

Whilst the pill is still a widely-used and preferred contraceptive method, with over 100 million women using hormonal birth control pills on a global scale, in recent years there has been a rise in other options, including the speculation around the possibility of a male pill.

Next up, No Glove No Love: Pros And Cons Of Different Contraceptive Methods