Dr. Howard Smith Oncall

Vidcast:  https://youtu.be/cb3EzDHKcOM   Sixteen year old teen girls using oral contraceptives are significantly more likely to show depressive symptoms than non-users at the same age.  This was not true for young women at other ages.   Dutch psychiatrists in association with Harvard psychiatrists and gynecologists report this finding from their study of 1010 teens 16 to 25 years of age.  They also found that teen pill users versus non-users experienced more eating disorders, sleep problems, and crying spells.   The bottom line for parents and teachers: the youngest sexually-active teens, hopefully using contraceptives, require much emotional support and surveillance in order to prevent and, if necessary, proactively manage psychiatric issues that arise.    de Wit AE, Booij SH, Giltay EJ, Joffe H, Schoevers RA, Oldehinkel AJ. Association of Use of Oral Contraceptives With Depressive Symptoms Among Adolescents and Young Women. JAMA Psychiatry. Published online October 02, 2019. doi:10.1001/jamapsychiatry.2019.