I stopped taking the birth control pill recently. And I'm not alone.
In my latest for , I explored some of the shocking impacts the pill has on women's brains: (🧵)
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I, like so many girls my age, started taking the pill in my early teen years to treat acne.
But many of us are now questioning the effects taking exogenous hormones might have on our bodies, our brains, and our experience of the world.
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I'm *shocked* by how many other women have recently decided to stop taking the pill. With more time on their hands during the pandemic, many started questioning the pill the popped every morning.
And, in my view, that's for good reason. Here's why:
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The pill changes who you're attracted to.
Women on hormonal birth control are attracted to less masculine faces--and are more likely to lose attraction to their partners if they stop taking the pill. They also experience diminished sexual satisfaction. But that's just the start.
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The pill might also change your behavior. Research by found being on the pill may be associated with lower self-control and less perseverance.
Research has also revealed a potentially diminished capacity to process negative emotions.
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It also dramatically dulls your cortisol (stress hormone) response, meaning your brain does not react the same way to stressful situations.
In fact, women on the pill have a cortisol response that looks a lot like a PTSD sufferer.
Let that sink in.
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As Dr. Hill put it:
"We should all be alarmed by the fact that the stress hormone profiles of women who are on the birth control pill look more like those belonging to trauma victims than they do like those belonging to otherwise healthy young women.”
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But what's most concerning is what the pill does to women who go on it during adolescence (before age 19).
I'm among the many who started taking the pill for non-contraceptive reasons (acne, cramps, heavy periods, etc.). And yet we were not warned about potential side effects.
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There have been *shocking* revelations here...
Birth control use during adolescence is associated with a “small but robust” increase in the risk of major depressive disorder later in life.
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And a study of half a million women in Denmark revealed early hormonal contraceptive use may even be associated with a tripled risk of suicide.
Adolescent girls' brains are developing into adult brains--and are flooded with hormones in the process...
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Should it really come as a surprise, then, that introducing artificial hormones into that process might have consequences?
Why haven't young women, their parents, and their pediatricians been warned about this? And why aren't we discussing it, amidst a mental health crisis?
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There is so much more research that needs to be done here. But only 2% of revenue from birth control pill sales goes back into research and development.
Women's health is being ignored here.
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But, of course, none of this is to say the pill hasn't had enormous upsides for women: flexibility, independence, family planning, etc.
And, for some women in some chapters of their lives, the birth control pill might be the best choice.
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This was especially a hard article to write, considering the overturning of Roe v. Wade. Birth control usage is more consequential than ever.
But I also believe we can't ignore inconvenient truths about hormonal contraceptives for that reason alone.
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Women should be armed with as much information as possible to make the best decision for themselves.
For me, that was going off the pill and seeing the world without the fog of artificial hormones.
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Despite 60 years of birth control use, 100 million-plus current users worldwide, and the fact that most women will use hormonal birth control at some point in their lives, there's SO much yet to be discovered and explored.
And, frankly, that's unacceptable.
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If you're interested in this topic, I could not more highly recommend 's book "This is Your Brain on Birth Control," which you can get here:
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