CONTRACEPTION has a long history of being a touchy subject – up until 1980 it was illegal in Ireland, largely due to the tight reign of the Catholic Church. Even today it remains controversial. An advisor to the Polish government on sex education recently described contraception as “wicked”, warning it can lead to “hedonism, sex addiction, a sense of shame and a tendency to betray.”

In Ireland, 32% of women between the ages of 15 and 43 use hormonal birth control, from a study by Bayer Healthcare in 2014. Two studies published in October added further controversy to the contraception debate.

A Danish study provided evidence that women using hormonal birth control are more likely to have depression, whilst the second study published findings from a trial of a male contraceptive, a trial which was halted due to severity of side effects including… depression.

The Danish study, published in JAMA Psychiatry, monitored health records and observed a correlation between users of hormonal contraception and commencement of anti-depressant treatments.

Professor Patricia Casey is a specialist psychiatrist and consultant in the Mater Hospital, as well as a lecturer in psychiatry in UCD, she says: “in this study it was the new onset of depression or the use of antidepressants in those with no prior history which was evaluated suggesting that it may be causal. The study doesn’t claim this but the authors suggest it is one possibility.”

Many women have been saying for years that their contraception has altered their mood and others have claimed to suffer depression due to their contraception. And so it comes as little surprise that reactions to the Danish study included a very loud “duh” and “we’ve known this for years” and “about time”.

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