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Bitter pill to swallow: Study links contraceptive pill to depression

A Danish study has found young women using the common contraceptive pill have a severely heightened risk of developing depression.

The JAMA Psychiatry study found those who used the popular hormonal contraception had a 1.23 times higher risk of being diagnosed with depression.

“We have to realise among all the benefits, external hormones [also] may have side effects and the risk of depression is one of them,” study author Ojvind Lidegaard said.

More than one million women were tracked over a 10-year period through a national database. The participants, all women aged between 15 and 34 years old, did not suffer from major mental health disorders when the study began.

According to the study, participants aged between 15-19-years-old taking oral combination birth control pills were 70 percent more likely to be diagnosed with a form of depression than non-users.

The new study revealed that adolescents were most at risk of developing depression while taking some oral contraceptives.
The new study revealed that adolescents were most at risk of developing depression while taking some oral contraceptives.

"Adolescents seemed to be more vulnerable to this risk than women 20 to 34 years old," Mr Lidegaard said.

The newest findings also revealed the rate of depression dropped dramatically as the women continued using their contraceptives, with the study confirming this trend in their older participants.

Study author Dr. Øjvind Lidegaard conducted the unprecedented sized study
Study author Dr. Øjvind Lidegaard conducted the unprecedented sized study

While the side effects of the pill have been debated vigorously in the past, no study of this magnitude has ever been undertaken before, however a Seattle pediatrician has warned readers to take the study with a pinch of salt.

Dr Breuner said the ability women have to regulate their menstrual cycles with such precision far outweighed the side effects that result from contraceptive methods.

“An unintended and unwanted pregnancy far outweighs all the other side effects that could occur from a contraceptive,” Dr. Cora Breuner said.