The Crazy Effects Of Birth Control On Women's Brains - Dr Peter Attia
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Dr. Peter Attia addresses the often-overlooked psychological and endocrine impacts of long-term hormonal birth control usage on women, noting that while he has not conducted specific research into its direct psychological effects, the downstream consequences are significant for patients transitioning to menopause. He explains that prolonged use of oral contraceptives causes a substantial rise in Sex Hormone Binding Globulin (SHBG), which binds up testosterone and estrogen, effectively lowering their free bioavailable levels even if total hormone counts appear normalized. This physiological shift can alter women's hormonal profiles significantly over time. Attia highlights the work of evolutionary psychologist Dr. Sarah Hills, author of "This Is Your Brain on Birth Control," who has documented how these drugs influence partner selection, libido, and sexual satisfaction. He shares anecdotal evidence of women reporting a loss of attraction to their partners after coming off birth control following childbirth, suggesting that hormonal changes can fundamentally alter what individuals find attractive rather than reflecting issues with the relationship itself. The discussion extends to broader societal trends in female mental health, particularly among young girls who face rising rates of hopelessness and depression. Attia questions whether media narratives focusing solely on social media platforms like TikTok or Instagram adequately account for other contributing factors, specifically the base rate of increasing birth control usage since 2010. He posits that while the decline in female mental health coincides with the rise of smartphones, there may be an interaction between hormonal contraception and psychological susceptibility to social comparison. Furthermore, he touches upon environmental concerns regarding sunscreen safety, noting that current research is still clarifying the causal link between sun exposure types—such as burns versus non-burns—and melanoma risk, while distinguishing it from less lethal forms of skin cancer like basal cell carcinoma. Attia also outlines upcoming controversial topics for his podcast series, including a deep dive into mineral versus chemical sunscreen ingredients and their respective risks. He acknowledges that discussions surrounding diet, lipids, heart disease, and Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT) often become highly inflammatory due to tribal or religious beliefs held by different groups within the medical community. Historically, HRT was viewed as dangerous by much of the establishment following flawed studies like the Women's Health Initiative, but Attia notes a growing consensus among doctors that responsible use of HRT is beneficial for women. He also mentions his previous work debunking claims linking vaccines to autism with guest Brian Deer, identifying these subjects as polarizing areas where scientific evidence often clashes with public perception and established dogma. Throughout the conversation, Dr. Attia emphasizes the importance of looking beyond surface-level explanations when analyzing complex health issues affecting large populations. He suggests that historians will likely view current media-driven narratives on female mental health critically once more data becomes available regarding hormonal interventions. The dialogue underscores a need to separate correlation from causation in areas like sun exposure and skin cancer, as well as the necessity of considering how pharmaceutical agents might interact with modern lifestyle factors such as social media usage. By integrating insights from evolutionary psychology, endocrinology, and epidemiological trends, Attia aims to provide a more nuanced understanding of these contentious health topics before his team finalizes their comprehensive analysis on sunscreens in an upcoming AMA session.
Read the full video transcript
have you looked at the psychological
impact of hormonal birth control on
women is this something you've done much
research on um I have not looked at the
psychological component of it but
obviously the downstream endocrine
component of it we deal with a lot in in
our female patients um especially as
they you know those who have been on it
for a long period of time who are then
becoming per menopausal and as you're
transitioning them to HRT obviously one
of the uh results of long-term um oral
contraceptives is a significant rise in
shbg so as their sexor binding globulin
goes up and up and up their free
androgens go down for a given level so
you you kind of have this issue where
even if they you normalize their
testosterone or estrogen they might
actually be physiologically experiencing
less of them so that's you know again
but definitely not something I consider
myself an expert in the uh Dr Sarah
wrote a book uh this is your brain on
birth control she's an evolutionary
psychologist but um it's really wild I I
think a friend has a a great question
which is what is currently being ignored
by the media but will be studied by
historians it's a nice frame of what are
we kind of overlooking at the moment and
I really think that hormonal birth
control will be one of those things that
um there was a
recent scan Scandinavian study that
looked at you know we've got this
declining female mental health problem
especially among young girls like 40% of
American teenage girls have persistent
or regular feelings of hopelessness it's
like this real maab apocalyptic sort of
language and um I always ask this
question because I had Jonathan height
on the show and he was social media and
comparison and blah blah blah but I was
like how has anyone factored in the base
rate of what increasing levels of monal
birth control usage has done to like how
much can this be contributing and this
and has that changed significantly since
2010 maybe that's that's what needs to
be looked at but because that's really I
mean I think the argument in favor of
Jonathan's argument is that when you
look at the total takeoff or nose dive
if you will of mental health for
especially girls it coincides really
perfectly with the exact introduction of
you know Tik Tok not Tik Tok but
Instagram smartphones and and and social
media so unless there was a different
type of birth control the question is
was there
also a birth control change great
question uh I think I don't think that
there has been a change I think it's
anything it's going to be kind of like
just a steady linear adoption of of
these of these drugs but what you don't
know is is there some sort of
predisposition some sort of
psychological uh uh um raw materials
that are more susceptible is this being
able to magnify the effect of social
media of social comparison uh and Dr
Sarah Hills works so I mean it's
fascinating the the change that women
have in the kind of partners that they
go for both on and off of birth control
uh the um level of testosterone that
they prefer on a man's T-shirt at the
same time the libido and the sexual uh
not only libido sorry uh the level of
sexual satisfaction with their partner
which also is indicative of partner
choice and how effective that is and I
mean you may or may not have heard these
stories but so many stories of women who
get into a relationship with their
partner when they're on get married
decide that they're going to then have
children come off and they like I'm not
really that attracted to my partner
anymore you know they sort of exit this
hormonal Fugue State and their kind of
eyes are open and it's not a comment on
their partner particularly it's just
that they're in a a very
different hormonal profile now and what
they find attractive has changed an
awful lot it's wild I mean the research
is is really really interesting
interesting yeah totally unaware that
side of things what about Sun cream
what's true about the safety of sun
cream I hear a lot of demonization of it
that it's dangerous that you can put it
on your skin that it gets absorbed that
it turns into all of these but then also
skin cancer not good what's your
position on sun cream uh I'm in the
process of learning an insane amount of
this for a podcast I'm doing so I would
I would
say I have my thoughts now but they're
they're going to be updated by you know
a team of phds check out the drive in
three months time exactly when when we
get to do our AMA on this we're going to
visit really two questions that are both
going to elicit a ton of controversy
this so the first is how clear is the uh
role of the causality of sun in melanoma
so again that might seem like a stupid
question to ask um but the answer is not
entirely clear um so what is it about
the Sun that increases the risk of
melanoma is is the risk of melanoma
increased for example in sun exposure
that does not result in a burn or does
it have to result in a burn does it have
to result in a severe burn does it have
to result in a burn during a certain
period of your life all of this is
unclear um it's a lot more clear the
relationship between Sun and basil cell
carcinoma and scamac cell carcinoma I
don't know what that is they're two
other types of skin cancer but they're
non-lethal because they can't
metastasize so you know to be afraid of
skin cancer really means to be afraid of
melanoma that's the one that can kill
you um and so that's going to be the
first part of the podcast is really
exploring that relationship and then the
second is going to be the Deep dive on
all of the all of the uh you know
sunscreens out there and so sort of
mineral versus chemical and um what
what's you know to to the best of our
ability to understand it what's the what
are the real risks uh if any of of
either of these types yeah there's an
awful lot of very vehement uh push in
both directions I think for this I can
IM I'm we're certainly not doing this
because we never do anything to sort of
step in a pile of [ __ ] but I I there's
no question that this is going to be
inflammatory but what do you think what
else would be I mean perhaps
surprisingly uh talking about Sun cream
uh like you know real Hot Topic it's a
you know a war zone out there what are
the other uh really spicy areas that you
might not have thought about you start
talking about pollen or something and
it's it's a a real war zone what is that
um I mean anytime I talk about lipids
and heart disease and uh dietary fats
and stuff anything to do with diet
that's always that that always tends to
be quite inflammatory uh because of
course you know anything that's diet
related is sort of very tribal and and
religious um I think HRT is a somewhat
polarizing topic though less so now than
when I started talking about it you know
when I really started talking about
HRT um most of the medical establishment
viewed it as bad and dangerous and I
think more and more the doctors are
coming around to realize that you know
the women's Health Initiative was such a
flawed study uh that
it's you know responsible HRT is a great
thing for women um uh what else is
really
controversial look I think you know
vaccines I did a I did a I interviewed a
guy named Brian deer and we went deep
down the MMR causes autism claims and
that's obviously a very polarizing and
controversial Topic in other news this
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