This recent research will be presented at the ECNP congress in Barcelona on 8th October.
Lead researcher, Professor Belinda Angela Pletzer (of Paris Lodron University, Salzburg, Austria) said “We investigated women’s mental health during the pill pause in long-term pill users: since they are long-term users, this means that they tolerate the pill very well. We found that during the pill pause, women’s mood worsens and they display similar
“.
Over the period from April 2021 to June 2022, the researchers studied 120 women who took a range of oral contraceptive pills and 60 who didn’t. They tested their mood twice a month using a series of validated questionnaires. Those women who used oral contraceptives showed a 7% increased anxiety score and a 13% increase in negative feelings score during the 7-day pill pause.
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Belinda Pletzer continued, “We don’t exactly know the mechanism behind this change, we are working on unpicking this just now. It is unclear whether the change is a direct effect of hormone withdrawal or due to the physical side effects of the withdrawal bleeding which happens when you stop the daily pill.
Oral contraceptives are very widely used, with up to half of younger women using them in parts of Northern Europe. Like any medicinal product, there are side effects, but there are also non-contraceptive benefits. It seems that long-term users, who tolerate their pill well, benefit from mood-stabilizing effects when they are actively taking the pill.
Reference :
- Mental Health Symptoms in Oral Contraceptive Users During Short-Term Hormone Withdrawal
– (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2809946)
Source: Eurekalert
