The contraceptive pill does not cause depressive symptoms in adult women. This is the conclusion of doctor-researcher Anouk de Wit of the University Medical Center Groningen on the basis of research she conducted with colleagues from the University of Groningen and the Leiden University Medical Center.
The White already showed in 2019 that 16-year-old girls who use the pill more often have depressive symptoms. In that study, however, it was not possible to determine whether pill use was a cause or a consequence of the depressive symptoms. ‘This requires so-called randomized research,’ she explains in a press release.
In such a study, women are divided (by lottery) into a group that receives a contraceptive pill and a group that receives a placebo. ‘With randomized research you can say something about cause and effect. That is why we have summarized the results of this type of research to determine whether or not the pill causes depressive symptoms.’
Twelve studies on 6000 women
De Wit and her colleagues combined twelve studies in a total of almost 6000 women. De Wit: ‘None of the pills studied, including the combination pill most often prescribed in the Netherlands with levonorgestrel 150 micrograms and ethinylestradiol 30 micrograms, has been shown to cause depressive symptoms.’
According to her, that does not mean that it is absolutely certain that the connection is not there. ‘Because the studies mainly took part in women who had used the pill earlier in their lives. If they had symptoms during their first use, they would have been less likely to have participated in these studies.’
Explanation for depressive symptoms in adolescents
The question therefore remains as to how the depressive symptoms in girls who use the pill can be explained. ‘First of all, it is therefore possible that girls experienced side effects on the mood when using the pill for the first time, and as a result stop, and later no longer want to participate in studies into the use of the pill,’ explains De Wit.
‘In addition, the body of adolescents is still developing, which means that it can respond differently to hormones than adults. Finally, we know that there are also other differences between girls who do and do not use the pill, for example in the amount of stress they experience. So other factors that are independent of the use of the pill could also cause the difference in depressive symptoms.’
Depressive symptoms can arise
According to De Wit, the research does not mean that every woman who experiences depressive symptoms due to the pill imagines that. ‘Such complaints can sometimes arise and it is important to go to the GP on time.’
To find out whether the pill can cause depressive symptoms in girls during puberty, a randomized study is needed in girls of that age.
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