Birth Control Deep Dive: How it Changes Your Brain, Its Link to Autoimmune Conditions, and Why We Need Better Options with Sarah Hill Ph.D

Hormones & Attraction

Hormonal birth control can subtly influence attraction and partner selection. Sarah Hill explains that hormonal changes can nudge preferences, sometimes leading women to feel differently about their partners after stopping the pill. She notes that these shifts are not drastic but can be significant for those on the threshold of attraction. Hill advises women to consider choosing partners while naturally cycling to avoid potential changes in attraction.

If you don't need to be on the pill and you're looking for a partner, I would stay off of it just because it's safer that way.

--- Sarah Hill

These hormonal nudges can also influence sexual orientation, highlighting the complex role of hormones in attraction and identity 1 2.

   

Brain Changes

Birth control pills can lead to cognitive and mood changes, altering a woman's sense of self. Sarah Hill shares her personal experience of feeling like a different version of herself while on the pill, which prompted her to explore the psychological effects of hormonal contraception. She emphasizes that these changes are due to the alteration of natural hormonal cycles, impacting motivation and preferences.

Changing your hormones is going to change who you are.

--- Sarah Hill

Hill highlights the lack of research on the long-term effects of starting birth control early in life, stressing the need for more studies to understand its impact on personality and chronic conditions 3 4.

   

Hormonal Cycles

The natural hormonal cycle involves fluctuations that optimize the body for conception and pregnancy. Sarah Hill explains that birth control pills mimic the second half of the cycle, maintaining high levels of synthetic progesterone to prevent ovulation. This hormonal state can lead to feelings of fatigue and reduced sexual desire, contrasting with the energetic and sexually motivated phase of natural estrogen peaks.

For a lot of naturally cycling women, the time in their cycle that they feel the best is during that estrogenic phase.

--- Sarah Hill

Hill notes that these synthetic hormones can also stimulate other receptors, potentially causing side effects like mood changes and weight gain 5 6.