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Recent findings indicate an increased risk for suicide attempt and suicide among women who use hormonal contraception. Skovlund et al. carried out a nationwide prospective cohort study of all women in Denmark with no psychiatric diagnoses, antidepressant use or hormonal contraceptive use before age 15 years, who turned 15 between 1996 and 2013. Hormonal contraception, suicide attempt, suicide and potential confounding variables were determined via nationwide registers.

Among nearly half a million women followed on average for 8.3 years, there were 6,999 first suicide attempts and 71 suicides. Use of hormonal contraception was positively associated with subsequent suicide attempt and suicide, with adolescent women experiencing the highest relative risk. The association between hormonal contraceptive use and a first suicide attempt peaked after 2 months of use.

Read the full article in American Journal of Psychiatry doi:10.1176/appi.ajp.2017.17060616.