| Popis: |
The interest in how, and if, hormonal contraceptives influence mood has increased over the past years. Mood symptoms, such as depressive symptoms, irritability, anxiety, and mood swings, are becoming a clinical problem for many hormonal contraceptive users and are often a reason for discontinuation. While the great majority of hormonal contraceptive users, including those using combined methods as well as progesterone-only methods, should not expect to experience negative mood, a smaller percentage of women are hormone sensitive and at risk of experiencing a worsening of their mood. High-quality evidence suggests that use of combined hormonal contraceptives is associated with minor mood changes, like increased irritability, increased anxiety and mood swings, and lowered general well-being, whereas depressive symptoms seem less affected. For some women, these modest changes in mood may be clinically relevant and the final push to a mental health problem in need of psychotropic treatment. Overall, modern contraceptive counselling should include a discussion about the potential risk of minor mood disturbances while on treatment. |
