Experience with Birth Control Pill and depression?
My 15 year old has anxiety and her period made things worse and more volatile. She went on the pill 3 months ago in hopes of stabilizing her mood with a plan to move to the implant. It’s been a really rough semester but now she is very depressed. She cries a lot which she rarely did before and is very reactive. Her sleep is also worse. When I try to talk about going off the pill she gets upset bc she doesn’t want her period but I am really worried to put in an implant (currently scheduled for later this week) given her depression. Her primary dr doesn’t think it causing it. Anyone else have a teen who got worse mental health issues on the pill? How did you handle it?
Dec 13, 2021
Parent Replies
I’m a middle aged mom that tried birth control to manage depression as a teen. It created more severe depression. I’m not sure why the primary md would say it doesn’t have this side effect because it is listed as a side effect. It’s best to get medication advice from a physician. Perhaps a psychiatrist would be a better option.
There is definitely a connection between birth control pills and depression. Here are just a couple of articles I pulled out of a quick Google search: https://www.webmd.com/sex/birth-control/birth-control-mood-link, https:…. I had this experience myself in my 20s - I thought I was just stressed out because of school, but the depression and crying disappeared as soon as I got off the pills. There are different formulations, and she could try different brands. For me, they each had some unpleasant side effect, and I eventually gave up. But each person is different. Good luck!
When I first went on birth control pill, I definitely suffered hormone-induced depression. When I switched from a monophasic pill (every pill has the same hormone done) to a multiphasic pill (level change over the course of your cycle) it got much, much better. Specifically, I started out on Otho-Novum 28 and ended up on Tri-Levlen (and eventually a generic equivalent).
Really helpful to hear from other parents validating my observations of the impact of hormone BC on daughter with anxiety and depression. I saw that it made things worse, plus she had frequent bleeding through the month. Her doc, someone I generally respect, minimized this and suggested doubling up in dose for a few days. She opted to stop. Will eventually need another BC solution. Would like to know if other pill formulations or other methods (nova ring or patch) are better.
Both our teen daughters went on the pill this year (for acne, which worked); one had big mood swings, lots of crying, couldn't handle it, stopped and went back to normal, so it was clearly the pill. The other didn't have that trouble (just nausea for a while). So it looks like it can have an effect, but not for everyone.
My daughter had a lot of problems with hormonal birth control and tried everything - low does oral contraceptives, injections (which caused a lot more problems), hormonal IUD, and then finally a non-hormonal IUD, which is much better. She wanted the IUD because it was much easier than having to take a pill. So far so good, so I would recommend this if the hormones are causing a lot of issues.
I experienced depression directly related to birth control in college, but have since had 3 hormonal IUDs in my 20s and 30s (2 mirenas and a kyleena) without that issue. I think it's all about the person/drug combo. I hope the iud works better for your daughter.