Will contraceptives help with low moods, feeling of sadness, anxiety?

[Lovelyweatherbluesky]

DD14 has been feeling very low lately, talking about wanting to die. She is not happy at school and her self steam is low. She has been referred to the psychiatrist but I don’t want to go the anti/depressant tablets.

Wondering if her feelings are make stronger due to hormonal changes? Her period has not regulated yet? Will contraceptive tablets help?

No - I wouldn’t think so. It helps regulate your period and moods that are related to your hormones such as pms. But wanting to die is very extreme. I understand you don’t want to give her anti depressants but let her go to the psychiatrist and see what they say. Often a combination of both psychiatric and psychologists is what would be best.

Thank you. I will definitely let her attend the appointments with the psychiatrist. I am so worried for her.

How worrying...
As an aside, if she's going to take medication anyway, why would you not choose the most suitable option??

I’m so sorry you’re going through this, it’s heartbreaking. My daughter is 14 too and has been through some low points. Hormones definitely seem to make everything feel more intense around this age, especially with irregular cycles.
You’re doing the right thing getting her support, and it’s okay to feel unsure about medication - I was the same! Therapy is definitely a good idea if you haven't thought about it already. Also, this article is helpful to find mental health resources: https://weareluna.app/parents/guides/mental-health-and-wellbeing/free-mental-health-resources/
Hope this helps.

From personal experience contraceptives have only had a negative effect on my mental health.

I was depressed as a teenager and the combined pill not only did not help, it made me worse.
A gynaecologist told me specifically not to start any hormonal contraceptives until my perinatal depression had been successfully treated because they are more likely to make depression worse.
Anything with synthetic progesterone can particularly have a negative effect on mood.
The best thing you can do is go to the psychiatrist and follow their advice.

No. My 15 year old was on AD for anorexia treatment and was recovering well. Started contraceptives and she was self harming again within days. Came straight off the contraceptives and she was on an even keel again really quickly.

Why are you resistant to AD’s? I firmly believe they saved my teenager’s life, or at the very least kept her out of hospital.

My teen dd was depressed and anxious,
she was prescribed contraceptive pill for her acne, that helped her acne
she was prescribed antidepressants for her mental health - it was transformative- without it she would not have coped with school / GCSE’s

Ohh. Thank you. That is good to know

My DD1 was experiencing the same issues with no clear cause or trigger so I got her a blood test and she has PCOS which causes a hormonal imbalance, hormones have a far bigger affect on mental health than is always recognised and the Yasmin pill really helped her 🥰 not saying this will necessarily be the case but its always worth checking out.

I think she has been feeling quite lonely; being in a school far from home; not having many local friends to go out with; she does have one best friend local she sees sometimes.

Her sister was busy with A levels, DH working and me dealing with my issues at work and burnout. We are trying to be there as a family to support her, spend more time with her.

I am hoping we caught it on time. She does express how she feels which is good.

I also bought her some magnesium for teens. And she should start seeing a psychiatrist soon.

I hope the new school is going to be the make of her and she will find like minded people; as she really hates all the rules and academic pressure of the UK mainstream system. The new school is a performing art school and they have more freedom and autonomy.

Thank you. This is good to know. I asked for blood tests this morning; I am convinced she has PCOS and an hormonal imbalance. Will ask for this test to be included. I don’t think is the only cause but I have the feeling hormones are making things worse.

My DD also 14 and struggling with illness/low mood that seemed to be worse in second half of cycle. She's tried both combined pill and progesterone only and both times they seemed to worsen her anxiety and not fix the initial problem.

Yes, my DD was also feeling isolated so it wasn’t the only factor but it was a hugely exacerbating factor.

Thanks. I sent her the luna app and she is going to download it

Yasmin has more testosterone to work against the PCOS

If she needs medication she needs medication. I hope you wouldn't deny her insulin were she diabetic!

Ohh. It is tricky. What tablets did she take?

Thanks. Let’s see what the psychiatrist says first.

Thank you.

What anti depressants does she take?

I am going to see what the psychiatrist says first and try other routes before going the anti depressants route. But if she needs it she needs it.

Thank you all for the responses. Lots to think about it.

Thank you. I just don’t know much about it I guess; worry about becoming really dependent on it; but if the doctor thinks she needs it then she needs it

Research a few years ago showed a correlation between contraceptives and poor mental health, particularly in teens
https://cepr.org/voxeu/columns/oral-contraceptive-pill-and-adolescents-mental-health

https://www.bps.org.uk/research-digest/oral-contraceptives-may-pose-greater-mood-risk-teens

I can't remember which combined pill but most recent progesterone only was desogesterol(sp)