Hormonal Contraception May Increase Risk of Suicide, Study Suggests

Women who use hormonal birth control may be more likely to attempt or die by suicide than those who never use the medication, according to astudy of women aged 15 to 33 in Denmark. The findings were published inAJP in Advance.“Adolescent women experienced the highest relative risk,” wrote Charlotte Wessel Skovlund, Ph.D., and colleagues of the University of Copenhagen. “Patch, vaginal ring, and progestin-only products were associated with higher risks than oral combined [estrogen and progestin] products, and a simi lar association was suggested for suicide.”To assess associations between their use of hormonal birth control and the risk of a first suicide attempt or suicide, Skovlund and colleagues followed a national cohort of Danish women who turned 15 during the study period, which extended from 1996 to 2013, and who had no history of hormonal contraceptive use. Women with prior suicide attempts, antidepressant use, and psychiatric diagnoses were excluded from the analysis.The study included nearly half a million women followed on average for 8.3 years with a mean age of 21 years. A total of 6,999 first suicide attempts and 71 suicides were identified. The association between hormonal birth control and a first suicide attempt peaked after two months of use. Compared with women who never used hormonal birth control ( “never users”), users of hormonal birth control aged 15 to 33 years had a relative risk of 1.97 for a first suicide attempt and 3.08 for suicid...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: adolescent women ajp in advance antidepressants Charlotte Wessel Skovlund Denmark hormonal contraception suicide suicide attempts Source Type: research