I like this thread.
- Sticking to my own field, there are many reports of oral contraceptives worsening or triggering depression. This is complicated by the fact that other papers suggest a neutral or even a positive effect, but my own (admittedly anecdotal) experience in the clinic suggests that negative mood changes are quite common:
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23219471
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22537684
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27030698
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25988030
- On abortion, I actually researched the topic as it relates to mental health in 2014, as our national government was soliciting comments from “interested stakeholders” on the topic. Here’s what I wrote, though it never really seems to have made an impact
() (my name and the name of my workplace are dummied out. )
Dear Sir,
As an interested stakeholder who has carefully studied the scientific
literature on the mental health impact of abortion on women, I am
writing to you as per the notification issued by by Shri D. N. Sahoo,
Undersecretary to the Government of India, posted to the Ministry of
Health and Family Welfare website on 29-10-2014
Though the proposed amendments to the MTP Act can be criticized on
various grounds - religious/moral, ethical, professional and
socio-cultural - I will limit myself to presenting evidence from
recent, large-scale studies on the adverse psychological consequences
of induced abortion.
The historical background to these studies must be borne in mind.
Following the “sexual revolution” of the 1960s, most Western countries
passed laws permitting the liberalization of induced abortion,
sometimes referred to by the euphemism “Medical Termination of
Pregnancy”. The most well-known of these judgments was the United
States Supreme Court verdict in the case of Roe vs. Wade, 1973, which
permitted abortion on demand up to 28 weeks of pregnancy.
In keeping with the spirit of the times, most authors (for example
Stotland, 1992) claimed that such policies would have no ill-effect on
women’s mental health, and might even bring about positive changes in
the case of an “unwanted” pregnancy. Though this remains the official
position of professional bodies, recent evidence contradicts this:
- When compared to women who had a spontaneous abortion
(miscarriage), Norwegian women who underwent an induced abortion
experienced higher levels of guilt and shame, and had high levels of
anxiety as rated by the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS).
In contrast, women who suffered a miscarriage had more acute grief,
but were much healthier in the long term. (Broen et al., 2005)
- In a sample of over 3,000 women from the United States, having an
induced abortion was associated with higher rates of mood disorders
(odds ratio 1.75-1.9), anxiety disorders (odds ratio 1.9), alcohol and
drug abuse (odds ratio 3-5) and, more disturbingly, suicide (odds
ratio 2). About 6% of the suicidal ideation experienced by these women
could be attributed to induced abortion. (Mota et al., 2010)
- A 30-year follow-up study of women from New Zealand found that
induced abortion was associated with a 30% increase in risk of
developing mental disorders, and that exposure to induced abortion
might account for up to 5% of mental disorders in this population.
(Fergusson et al., 2008)
- A study of 48 South African women who underwent an abortion found
that around 50% of them had emotional or psychological problems at
follow-up (6 months later), and 16 of these women (33%) developed a
“post-abortion syndrome” similar to the post-traumatic stress disorder
experienced by war veterans and disaster survivors. (Van Rooyen and
Smith, 2004)
- A synthesis of all published studies for the period 1995-2009,
covering 22 studies and over 8 lakh*women (1.6 lakh of whom had
undergone an abortion) found that induced abortion increased the risk
of mental disorders by 81%, and that 10% of all mental disorders in
this population could be attributed to induced abortion.
Though such studies have not been conducted in the Indian setting,
these results are disturbing and should give us cause for concern.
They suggest that, far from being a harmless and safe procedure (as
advocated by Western NGOs and law-makers), “medical termination of
pregnancy” is associated with a high risk of mental illness and
suicide in women.
It is my recommendation, as a mental health professional, that such
research be taken into account, and that research on the mental health
impact of abortions in Indian women be undertaken before any attempts
are made to liberalize or broaden the scope of this psychologically
traumatic procedure. We must be careful not to make mistakes that the
“developed world” is waking up to only now, and we must avoid enacting
laws that could have counterproductive effects on the health of Indian
women, who already face multiple hardships.
Thanking you,
Yours sincerely,
(The views expressed in this summary are my own and are not the
official position of the *******. They are, however, based on an appraisal of
recent, methodologically sound scientific studies and not on any
personal prejudice.)
- 1 lakh = 1,00,000, it’s a local term.
There is- for a very few women- an increased risk of depression on OCP. OCP cause an increase in the production of sex hormone binding globulin (SHBG). SHBG binds testosterone, which can cause mood change/depression, decrease in enjoyment of sex.