Your Contraceptives Provoke Depression
If you suspect your hormonal contraceptives cause various psychological issues, your assumption is not wild at all. The scientists from the Faculty of Healthcare Service and Medical Sciences of the University of Copenhagen undertook a large-scale 13-year study that managed to trace the link between oral contraceptives and depression.

Why Contraceptives Cause Depression?
- Gestagenic component of birth control pills changes the metabolism of tryptophan in the body. This is why sensitive women feel mood decline.
- A woman experiences negative emotional reactions such as depression because oral contraceptives enhance low spirits and change emotional reactivity of the brain.
- Teenage girls are more exposed to the influence of the pills than mature women.
- Hormonal agents can cause deficiency of B6 vitamin. Synthetic estrogens in COCs infringe metabolic process of amino acids and B6 vitamin that attacks central nervous system and causes touchiness and various forms of depression.
- Contraceptives decrease the level of testosterone, the hormone that regulates sexuality. As a result, women suffer from lack of sexual desire and troubles with receiving orgasm. This type of sexual issues can also provoke psychological problems.
Hormonal Contraception Attacks Mental Health
“The woman of 27 years old experienced a sensation of unreality and fear after she started to take hormonal contraceptives. When she finished drug intake, she started to suffer from panic attack.” the Scandinavian magazine of obstetrics and gynecology “Acta Obstet Gynecol Scand” stated (1992 Jan;71(1):78-80). The instructions to hormonal contraceptives sometimes contain psychological disorders as side effects. Depression and anxiety are the most common effects. Panic attacks are not outlined because they are generally classified as anxious disorders. While they definitely must be considered precisely as far as many women suffer from them. According to the research conducted by the Royal Society of General Practitioners, women taking hormonal contraception are at increased risk to suffer from mental aberration, neurotic depressive disorder (10%-40%), development of insanity and suicide. In addition, aggression multiplies and considerable changes of the mood and behavior are noticed.Symptoms of Drug-Induced Depression
- Melancholy, frustration, apathy, drowsiness;
- Extreme emaciation;
- Sensitivity on food;
- Nausea and vomiting;
- Total activity decrease;
- Disability to enjoy any sort of activity;
- Sluggish mentality;
- Motor retardation;
- Suicidal thoughts and actions;
- Tremor;
- Masklike face.
In case you observe signs of depression provoked by antifertility agents, you should consult your doctor immediately. It is recommended to take vitamin B complex as a precaution of depressive syndrome emergence.