If your partner, daughter, or another woman in your life has recently started birth control or switched forms of birth control, and you sense that something is different about her mood or her behavior, it may not be all in your head. Birth control can impact women\u2019s moods and behaviors in several ways. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
In addition to mood changes<\/em> and depression <\/em>being mentioned among the most common side effects on product inserts of hormonal contraceptives, there is growing evidence showing birth control can have mood-altering effects on both girls and women. Large-scale studies<\/a> have confirmed a link between heightened risk for depression, anxiety, and suicide risk among women on hormonal forms of birth control, with adolescent girls being at the highest risk. <\/p>\n\n\n\n The copper IUD, although it is a popular non-hormonal birth control option, can also cause mood-altering side effects<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n We also know that birth control can tank some women\u2019s libidos<\/a> for various reasons. Changes in libido can be due to the synthetic hormones in birth control causing changes in feelings or emotions, but these hormones can also cause physiological changes due to their effects on vaginal tissues (including shrinkage of the clitoris)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hormonal birth control may also impact mutual attraction<\/a>, i.e., how attractive your partner is to you, and how attractive you are to your partner. (One study has even suggested that having a partner on birth control may even change men\u2019s perceptions of their own attractiveness<\/a>.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n Birth control also impacts the ability of a woman\u2019s body to cope with stress<\/a>. In fact, women on hormonal contraception do not exhibit the body\u2019s classic response to stress<\/a> (i.e., elevated levels of the stress hormone, cortisol, courtesy of HPA-axis signaling<\/a>) in stressful situations. This can lead women to feeling out of touch with healthy stressors, and it can also lead to chronic stress. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A 2019 study found that women on oral contraceptives had a 6% smaller hypothalamus (a key structure in the brain) than women who were not on oral contraceptives. (A 6% decrease is no small amount. For comparison, in a patient with Alzheimer\u2019s, the hippocampus may lose 3 to 4% a year<\/a>.) And while, in the study, women with smaller hypothalamic volume scored no worse in cognitive testing results (which measured verbal learning and memory, executive function, and working memory), they did score higher on anger and depression measures<\/a> than women with larger hypothalamic volume. <\/p>\n\n\n\n There are a few theories<\/a> behind why some women on birth control may find themselves gaining weight, or see their body shape changing. One theory is that birth control may alter women\u2019s eating patterns, causing them to eat more. This theory is supported by the evolutionary perspective on women\u2019s cycles, and what we know about how birth control works. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Hormonal birth control primarily stops a woman from ovulating (that is, from releasing an egg each month). Rather than \u201cregulating\u201d her cycle, the synthetic hormones in birth control actually make her cycle stop entirely. These hormones put a woman in a perpetual state of the second half of her cycle (as if ovulation already happened) when women are likely to eat more (the luteal phase). Without being balanced out by the first half of her cycle (the ovulatory phase), when women are likely to eat less, this can lead to weight gain over time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n If any woman you love (your partner, daughter, sister, or other loved one) has recently started or switched her birth control, and you have a hunch that some of her new moods or behaviors coincide with the change, follow your instinct. You may share information with her about side-effect-free Fertility Awareness Methods<\/a> (FAMs) which can be used for highly effective family planning, as well as for reproductive health maintenance, diagnosis, and treatment (when used in conjunction with Restorative Reproductive Medicine<\/a>). <\/p>\n\n\n\n FAMs have as much to offer women of childbearing age who want to plan for or postpone pregnancy, as they do for teenagers looking\u00a0for relief from\u00a0heavy,\u00a0painful, or irregular\u00a0periods, acne, or other cycle-related issues\u2014all without\u00a0the mood, brain, body, or behavioral changes that can\u00a0accompany\u00a0birth control.\u00a0Many women\u00a0(and teens<\/a>)\u00a0find that FAMs help them\u00a0feel\u00a0more in tune with their bodies,\u00a0empowering them to be better advocates for their health and wellbeing. <\/p>\n\n\n\n This page was last updated on May 16, 2024. <\/em><\/p>\n\n\nLibido and mutual attraction <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Stress and ability to cope <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Changes in the brain <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
Weight gain, body shape, and eating patterns <\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How you can help<\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n\n