Birth Control: Effecting Your Mood and Sex Drive

The pill. The ring. A shot. The patch. Whatever your "drug" of your choice is, there are many women that are putting hormones into their body on a daily basis to prevent the creation of another human being. Let me preface before I write anything else, that I am not saying people should not take birth control. It is really important that no babies are born that are unwanted, and the pill is not something I am unfamiliar with. In fact, the reason for me writing this blog is because the more I tune into my mind and body, the more I realize that the pill makes me feel... a bit funny. For me, I get dizzy spells and lose touch with my emotions. I am naturally an enthusiastic person who sometimes, and I know a few people will vouch for this, is almost too happy and energetic about life. When I go on the pill, I feel dulled and I victimize myself often. What I would normally feel excited about, I have a hard time looking forward to because I am focused on the stressful ifs, ands, or buts. So I thought I would do some research and bring a little light to the situation, for those who also feel nervous about altering the levels of estrogen and progestin in their bodies.

According to an article on health.com, "Depression or mood swings are widely reported, and some say the Pill lowers their sex drive. 'For some women, the Pill does affect libido,' says Hilda Hutcherson, MD, an ob-gyn professor at Columbia University." For Some women, their libido increases while others state a decrease. A study done at Monash University in Australia found that women taking the pill (Envoid specifically, the first pill established as a means for birth control) scored a 17.6 on a depression scale, compared to 9.8 for the non-users (Burnett-Watson). Both groups had no historical background of depression.

These are just two websites that I visited that commented on different studies reporting a correlation between depression and birth control. If you google mood, birth control, you will have hours and hours of fun filled reading. Lesson to learn from this blog: if you are looking for a form of birth control, and by all means if you are sexually active but not ready for babies I encourage it, think about what form you are going to work with. Talk to your doctor and try the pill, but if it at all alters your state of mind, consider a different method. There is no reason to feel sad if the only trigger a pill.

Burnett-Watson link* http://www.aphroditewomenshealth.com/news/hormones_depression.shtml