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Reviews tagging 'Suicide attempt'
This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended Consequences by Sarah Hill
2 reviews
eljarvo's review against another edition
funny
informative
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Pregnancy
bookedbymadeline's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
This was an interesting read to see how our hormones affect us throughout our cycles, both on and off birth control. It was a lot of information to take in so it took some time to get through and at times I wasn’t very motivated to keep reading. The chapter that really held my attention was about stress response and how the pill affects your cortisol levels!
I tried to identify how I have felt both on and off the pill, as Dr Hill suggests, but the first time I switched birth control was during a huge period of upheaval (moving away from family, being unemployed, adjusting to a new culture and trying to make friends) and I was formally diagnosed with depression due to all the sudden life changes (maybe the pill switch was a contributing factor or maybe not). Then I went off birth control completely during the pandemic and my mental health has obviously not improved considering everything else going. So it’s difficult for me to recognize if I was affected by these pill changes or not, because there’s been so many other variables contributing to my mental health issues.
The book repeatedly makes note that we are our hormones, however it feels like a simplification because we are also our socialization, our community, our learned experiences, etc.
I think the author stated in the beginning that she would focus on the pill as used for pregnancy prevention but unfortunately for some, like myself, I went on it at a very young age due to endometriosis and having extremely painful, irregular periods. Sadly the suggestions of going on and off the pill regularly or not using it altogether would not have worked for me.
It’s an important book to read and I encourage everyone who has tried birth control or is considering trying it to read this book. It has a lot of important information that may be helpful! Unfortunately for me the book left me feeling overwhelmed and deflated, perhaps due to the timing of reading this or due to the content itself, so I offer a warning that if you’re not in a good place mentally-hold off on reading this book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Medical content
Moderate: Infertility, Mental illness, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide and Suicide attempt
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