Hormone intervention The pill promotes depression

Young girls are at high risk for depression due to hormonal contraception
When women use hormonal contraception, they increase their chances of developing depression. Researchers also found that the relative risk of depression varies among different types of contraception. Particularly high is the risk with young girls.

Researchers at the University of Copenhagen found that hormonal contraception may increase the likelihood of developing depression. The physicians published the results of their study in the journal "JAMA Psychiatry".

Many women use contraceptives for so-called hormonal contraception. Researchers found that such contraceptives can increase the risk of depression and lead to increased antidepressant use. (Image: rosifan19 / fotolia.com)

Physicians are studying the effects of hormonal contraception
There seems to be a connection between the use of hormonal contraceptives and mood disorders in women. The researchers analyzed the data from two national Danish registries. They sought to find out if the use of hormonal contraception was linked to the subsequent use of antidepressants and the diagnosis of depression in a psychiatric hospital.

Researchers examined data from 1,061,997 Danish women
The Danish physicians analyzed the data of women and adolescents aged 15 to 34 years. These women had previously received no diagnoses for depression. Nevertheless, many of the women eventually had a prescription for antidepressants. The reason for this was, for example, cancer, venous thrombosis or the treatment of infertility. Overall, the data of 1,061,997 women with a mean age of 24.4 years were examined, explain the physicians.

Over half of Danish women used hormonal contraception
In the follow-up examination, the physicians could then find that 55 percent of women have either long been using a hormonal contraception or just started it. After about 6, 4 years, there were 133,178 first prescriptions for antidepressants and 23,077 first diagnoses for depression, the researchers say.

Oral contraceptives increase the risk of using antidepressants
For some women, birth control pills can be dangerous. Compared to non-users, users of oral contraceptives have been found to be at an increased risk of using antidepressants, the researchers say. They had a relative risk (RR) for first use antidepressants of 1.23 versus non-users. Women who used the so-called progestogen pills had a RR of 1.34, users of transdermal patches had a RR of 2.0. The use of a so-called vaginal ring has a RR of 1.6, explain the experts.

Risk depends on the age of the woman
The scientists also found that the increased risk of depression with hormonal contraceptives depend on age and users. Compared to the time before use of hormonal contraception, the relative risk (RR) for the use of antidepressants was one year after use in adolescents aged 15 to 19 years 1.8. For women aged 20 to 30, the value after using hormonal contraceptives was 1.4 RR. the relative risk decreases with age.

Hormonal contraceptives can trigger depression and taking antidepressants
The use of hormonal contraceptives has been linked to subsequent use of antidepressants and a first diagnosis of depression in a psychiatric hospital among women in Denmark, say the authors of the study. Adolescents seem to be more vulnerable to this risk than women aged 20 to 34 years. Nevertheless, further studies are required to further investigate the possible harmful effects of hormonal contraceptives, the doctors add. Generally, women should be aware of the risk of birth control pills when prescribing. (As)