Women taking the contraceptive Pill are at ‘DOUBLE the risk of suffering depression’
Those on the combined Pill were 1.8 times more likely to start taking antidepressants
TAKING the Pill doubles the risk of depression, a study suggests.
Those on the combined Pill were 1.8 times more likely to start taking antidepressants, with progesterone-only users at 2.2 times greater risk.
Adolescents using hormone patches were three times more likely to develop depression.
Danish scientists followed more than a million women aged 15 to 34 for an average of six years.
Over all age groups, women on the combined Pill saw their risk of being given antidepressants for the first time increase 23 per cent compared to non-users.
And those using progesterone-only contraception were at 34 per cent greater risk.
The University of Copenhagen experts suspect hormonal changes are to blame.
Progesterone is known to have a negative effect on mood in menstrual cycles.
Around 3.5million women in the UK take some form of oral contraceptive.
Brit experts said the study raised “important questions”.
But Society for Endocrinology doc Channa Jayasena urged caution.
She said: “The study does not prove the Pill plays any role in the development of depression.”