New study linking hormonal contraception to depression is vindication, says author

New research in Denmark suggests hormonal contraceptives are linked to an increase risk of depression in women. The long-term study of over a million women also found a higher risk for heightened depression in adolescents.

Catherine Monk, an associate professor in psychiatry at Columbia University, says bad relationships and teenage angst could be the reason for anti depressants while on the pill. (Gnarls Monkey/Flickr cc)

While previous research has already linked hormonal birth control methods to a change in mood, this new evidence has advocates feeling vindicated, hoping the findings will be used as an opportunity to address the gender imbalance in birth control.

Holly Grigg-Spall, author of Sweetening the Pill: or How we got Hooked on Hormonal Birth Control, tells The Current’s Anna Maria Tremonti that after interviewing hundreds of women on hormonal birth control, the study validates what women are experiencing.

Dr. Ojvind Lidegaard says study proves what he has seen in his gynecological practice because for years he heard anecdotal evidence that the pill causes women to experience unexpected bouts of depression. (Jerry Mosey/AP/The Canadian Press)

“This is something that I hear about literally every single day and that the pill and other methods… like the hormonal IUD, the ring, and the patch,can cause depression and suicide.”

Grigg-Spall experiences depression on the pill and says she hears of many negative mental health impacts that makes this study so significant in bringing these symptoms to the forefront.

“As the research has actually noted, it probably is still an underestimation of how many women are actually affected by hormonal birth control psychologically.”

*More to come*

Listen to the full conversation at the top of this web post.

This segment was produced by The Current’s Julian Uzielli, Jacqueline Mckay and Ines Colabrese.