The Pill: Is It Messing Up Our Brain and Body?

What It Covers

Science Versus examines claims that birth control pills change attraction, personality, and mental health. The episode evaluates research on hormonal contraception's effects on brain structure, libido, weight, and explores fertility awareness methods and pre-ejaculate pregnancy risk.

Key Questions Answered

• •Attraction myths debunked: Studies claiming the pill changes mate preference failed to verify ovulation timing. Newer research with 6,500 participants using hormone verification found no difference in facial preference between pill users and non-users, contradicting evolutionary psychology theories about masculine versus feminine face attraction.
• •Mental health risks confirmed: Clinical trials show four to ten percent of pill users develop depression symptoms. The pill reduces sexual desire, arousal, and pleasure by approximately seven to eight percent on average. Mechanisms involve hormone receptors interacting with neurotransmitters like serotonin, not brain structural changes.
• •Actual medical risks quantified: Blood clot risk increases from three per ten thousand to six per ten thousand. Breast cancer risk rises from five to six per ten thousand to seven per ten thousand. The pill reduces endometrial and ovarian cancer risk, contradicting claims about widespread dangerous side effects.
• •Fertility awareness effectiveness: When tracking cervical mucus texture, basal body temperature, and ovulation test strips perfectly, fertility awareness methods achieve 99.6 percent effectiveness matching the pill. However, method requires daily monitoring and fails with stress, fever, or infections affecting body signals, making consistency challenging.