Effects of hormonal contraception on mood and sexuality

The impact of hormonal contraception on mental and sexual health has long been either ignored or considered to be much less important than the cardiovascular, metabolic and cancer risks. In recent years the interest in these side effects, having an impact on the quality of life of users, has grown due to several reasons.

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  The increased risk in mental health issues like depression and suicide among users became a matter of concern, especially from a public health perspective, in which these risks became as important as the physical health risks described.
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  The negative impact of mental and sexual health problems on wellbeing became the predominant reason for either not using hormonal contraceptives or the discontinuation of use.

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  The increased risk in mental health issues like depression and suicide among users became a matter of concern, especially from a public health perspective, in which these risks became as important as the physical health risks described.
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  The negative impact of mental and sexual health problems on wellbeing became the predominant reason for either not using hormonal contraceptives or the discontinuation of use.

In the last decades different scientific approaches to gain empirical evidence about the type and extent of negative effects of hormonal contraceptives on mood and sex did not result in clear evidence-based statements due to the complexity of the interaction between contraceptive methods and mental and sexual health (inconsistent measurement of patient reported outcomes, multiplicity of intervening variables etc).

Based on an understanding of the biological, psychological and sociocultural factors contributing to the mental and sexual health of the individual user, and the individual impact of hormonal contraception, which can have negative, positive or neutral effects on mood and sexuality, an individualized approach is proposed to integrate mental and sexual health into the practice of contraceptive counselling and care.