GP’s are going to pay more attention to psychological side effects of the birth control pill

Mood swings, depressive thoughts, and a sex drive reduced to zero: these are only a few examples of the psychological symptoms people can suffer from as a result of using the pill. In the revised GP guidelines of the Dutch GP Society (NHG) it is stated in black and white for the first time that they have to talk about it during a doctor’s appointment. Because people are increasingly wondering - rightly so - if their psychological problems are just a coincidence or if they are the consequence of that little pill they take almost every day.

Until now, the guideline was mostly focused on user satisfaction and possible physical side effects, like thrombosis. Whilst the psychological effects of the pill have been known for quite some time - approximately 1 out of every 100 women* suffers from them - they were barely or never discussed during the doctor’s appointments. The NHG has systematically summarized all of the medical knowledge on that area, in order for GP’s to be better able to answer the questions people might have. And Cycle Care could not agree more!

Do you want to read the guidelines? You can find them here: https://richtlijnen.nhg.org/standaarden/anticonceptie#volledige-tekst

 *We try to be as inclusive as possible in our articles. Please read our inclusivity statement here!