Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review
Summer Mengelkoch, Kimya Afshar, George M Slavich Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USACorrespondence: Summer Mengelkoch, Email [email protected]: Hormonal contraceptives have given women historic freedoms and control ov...
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Dove Medical Press
2025-02-01
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| Series: | Open Access Journal of Contraception |
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| Online Access: | https://www.dovepress.com/hormonal-contraceptive-use-and-affective-disorders-an-updated-review-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OAJC |
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| author | Mengelkoch S Afshar K Slavich GM |
| author_facet | Mengelkoch S Afshar K Slavich GM |
| author_sort | Mengelkoch S |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Summer Mengelkoch, Kimya Afshar, George M Slavich Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USACorrespondence: Summer Mengelkoch, Email [email protected]: Hormonal contraceptives have given women historic freedoms and control over their fertility. At the same time, the potential side effects and unintended consequences of hormonal contraceptive use remain unclear due to a severe lack of funding and research. In this review, we summarize what is currently known about the impact of hormonal contraceptive use on mood symptoms, depression, and premenstrual disorders, and propose using the Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression as a framework to generate predictions about the mechanistic pathways through which contraceptive use is associated with depression risk. The highest-quality evidence suggests that some types of contraceptives increase depression risk for some women. However, some contraceptives also appear to decrease depression risk in some instances. Key risk factors that predict depression following hormonal contraceptive use include age/age at onset of contraceptive use and mental health history/susceptibility. Hormonal contraceptives differ in ways that influence mood-related outcomes and can be used to treat depression in some women, especially those whose depression symptoms fluctuate across the cycle, indicating the potential presence of a premenstrual disorder. Looking forward, research, and funding for this research, is needed to elucidate the mechanistic pathways through which the use of different contraceptives impacts mood in different women to allow for a precision medicine approach to contraceptive treatment. In the meantime, health care providers should adopt patient-centered, “mindful prescribing” approaches to contraceptive counseling.Keywords: women’s health, hormonal contraception, depression, affective disorders, premenstrual disorders, mechanisms |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-e097dafc72b0461988e51f4b7c16b28b |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1179-1527 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-02-01 |
| publisher | Dove Medical Press |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Open Access Journal of Contraception |
| spelling | doaj-art-e097dafc72b0461988e51f4b7c16b28b2025-02-11T17:30:56ZengDove Medical PressOpen Access Journal of Contraception1179-15272025-02-01Volume 16129100066Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated ReviewMengelkoch SAfshar KSlavich GMSummer Mengelkoch, Kimya Afshar, George M Slavich Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles, CA, USACorrespondence: Summer Mengelkoch, Email [email protected]: Hormonal contraceptives have given women historic freedoms and control over their fertility. At the same time, the potential side effects and unintended consequences of hormonal contraceptive use remain unclear due to a severe lack of funding and research. In this review, we summarize what is currently known about the impact of hormonal contraceptive use on mood symptoms, depression, and premenstrual disorders, and propose using the Social Signal Transduction Theory of Depression as a framework to generate predictions about the mechanistic pathways through which contraceptive use is associated with depression risk. The highest-quality evidence suggests that some types of contraceptives increase depression risk for some women. However, some contraceptives also appear to decrease depression risk in some instances. Key risk factors that predict depression following hormonal contraceptive use include age/age at onset of contraceptive use and mental health history/susceptibility. Hormonal contraceptives differ in ways that influence mood-related outcomes and can be used to treat depression in some women, especially those whose depression symptoms fluctuate across the cycle, indicating the potential presence of a premenstrual disorder. Looking forward, research, and funding for this research, is needed to elucidate the mechanistic pathways through which the use of different contraceptives impacts mood in different women to allow for a precision medicine approach to contraceptive treatment. In the meantime, health care providers should adopt patient-centered, “mindful prescribing” approaches to contraceptive counseling.Keywords: women’s health, hormonal contraception, depression, affective disorders, premenstrual disorders, mechanismshttps://www.dovepress.com/hormonal-contraceptive-use-and-affective-disorders-an-updated-review-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OAJCwomen’s healthhormonal contraceptiondepressionaffective disorderspremenstrual disordersmechanisms |
| spellingShingle | Mengelkoch S Afshar K Slavich GM Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review Open Access Journal of Contraception women’s health hormonal contraception depression affective disorders premenstrual disorders mechanisms |
| title | Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review |
| title_full | Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review |
| title_fullStr | Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review |
| title_full_unstemmed | Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review |
| title_short | Hormonal Contraceptive Use and Affective Disorders: An Updated Review |
| title_sort | hormonal contraceptive use and affective disorders an updated review |
| topic | women’s health hormonal contraception depression affective disorders premenstrual disorders mechanisms |
| url | https://www.dovepress.com/hormonal-contraceptive-use-and-affective-disorders-an-updated-review-peer-reviewed-fulltext-article-OAJC |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT mengelkochs hormonalcontraceptiveuseandaffectivedisordersanupdatedreview AT afshark hormonalcontraceptiveuseandaffectivedisordersanupdatedreview AT slavichgm hormonalcontraceptiveuseandaffectivedisordersanupdatedreview |