According to the 2016 Health Barometer, around 36% of French women aged 15 to 75 use the pill as a contraceptive method. The pill appeals in particular to 15-19 year olds (who are 60% to trust it) and 20 to 24 year olds (60% also).
Weight gain, drop in libido, even thrombosis or even embolism … The contraceptive pill is accused of many undesirable side effects. It is also responsible for 35 deaths each year in France.
According to a new study from the University of Greifswald (in Germany), the contraceptive pill could also have an impact on our empathy and, in particular, on our ability to identify the emotions felt by others.
Emotions, a question of hormones
To reach this conclusion, the German researchers worked with a group of 95 women – of these, 42 were on birth control pills. The volunteers then took a test that consisted of recognizing emotions on faces.
Verdict? Women who took the pill had about 10% more difficulty recognizing subtle emotions (such as pride and contempt) than women in the control group. “Of course, the contraceptive pill does not completely erase empathy”, qualify the researchers.
“However, we have seen a real impact on the recognition of the most subtle emotions. In women, we know that hormonal activity (and, in particular, cyclical estrogen / progesterone variations) is linked to certain emotions. It is therefore not surprising to discover that a method of hormonal contraception disrupts certain emotional functions. “
This work has been published in the specialist journal Frontiers in Neuroscience.
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