Birth Control Impairs Women's Ability To Feel Fear

[EndtheMadnessNow]

A worrying new study suggests combined oral contraceptives shrink a region of the brain associated with regulating emotions and processing fear signals. 150+ million women worldwide use oral contraceptives.


This affects voting as well.

The research is published in the journal Frontiers of Endocrinology. Existing studies had already suggested that oral contraception might tamper with fear processing in women, but more rigorous research was needed. The new study aims to provide this.

The study was small-scale, with around 200 participants, male and female. MRI imaging was used examine the brain and map volume and cortical thickness of particular regions associated with fear processing and emotional control. The results clearly showed that use of oral contraceptives is associated with reduced cortical thickness of the centromedial prefrontal cortex. Oral contraceptives present risk factor, then, for "emotional regulation deficits" in their users.

One upside, potentially, is that these effects, at least, may be reversible. Cortical shrinkage was not observed in women who had discontinued use in the past. OCs act as a powerful disruptor of the menstrual cycle. Combined OCs (COCs) are the most common type. Despite these findings, with obvious society-wide implications, the researchers are quick to caution that no such implications can be inferred. Men and women with experience of the personality-bending effects of oral contraceptives are likely to disagree...

Much to learn

There is still much to learn when it comes to women’s brains and how they are impacted by COC use. For example, Brouillard and team are currently investigating the impact of age of onset and duration of use to delve further into the potential lasting effects of COCs. Given that many teenage girls start using COCs during adolescence, a sensitive period in brain development, user age might also impact reversibility.

Pointing to limitations in their study, the scientists said that no causal relationship can be implied between COC use and brain morphology and that generalization of their results to a general population may be limited. The researchers also cautioned that drawing conclusion from anatomical findings to behavioral and psychological impact is not possible at this point.

“The objective of our work is not to counter the use of COCs, but it is important to be aware that the pill can have an effect on the brain. Our aim is to increase scientific interest in women’s health and raise awareness about early prescription of COCs and brain development, a highly unknown topic,” concluded Brouillard.

Link to full paper: Morphologic alterations of the fear circuitry: the role of sex hormones and oral contraceptives


Oh btw, Ghislaine Maxwell’s sister, Isabel Maxwell, was married to Dale Djerassi.

Dale's dad, Carl Djerassi, [1923-2015] a prolific chemist, as well as a novelist, playwright, and poet, is often referred to as the "father of the birth control pill"...interesting. Djerassi received the highest accolades for his research, but was never awarded a Nobel prize.

Dale Djerassi, who gave $8,200 to Clinton’s “New York Senate 2000” committee in June, participated in the bizarre “St. Batman Crucifixion” in Woodside, Calif., in 1994.

Story + pics: The Maxwell family, Hillary Clinton & satanic art

Eventually, the two men pretend to nail the naked Batman to the cross. One of the men whipping the nude Batman was Dale Djerassi. The Catholic League was rightly outraged by this blasphemous display posing as art, which was paid for by the US taxpayers.

Dale & Isabel's son is Alex Djerassi. Hillary Clinton put Ghislaine Maxwell’s fresh-out-of-college, 25-year-old nephew, Alex in charge of the Obama administration’s Libya and Syria policy.

How Did Everyone Miss This Obvious Hillary-Epstein Connection?

So weird. Don't ya just luv it?!

[xuenchen]

The amygdala is a collection of nuclei found in the temporal lobe; it is best known for its role in fear and threat detection, but its full range of functions is much more diverse. I discuss some of the major nuclei of the amygdala, a common scheme for the anatomical organization of the amygdalar nuclei, and some of the functions that have been associated with the amygdala ranging from threat detection to the processing of positive stimuli.

 "Political" "Science" "Explained" 

[Freija]

Would it be safe to say that birth control pills also diminish a woman's fear of unwanted pregnancy?

Sometimes science is stupid.

[Ninurta]

Anecdotally, my first wife was put on birth control pills in her early teens, with the objective of regulating out of control periods. It seems to have worked for that, but otherwise, she was just batshit crazy. Whether the birth control explains that or not is up for grabs, but it seems an interesting connection.

Fear is a natural response to danger, and the absence of it when it ought to be present gets a lot of folks killed. Therefore, it does seem to have the potential to be a self-solving problem.

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[Ninurta]

Would it be safe to say that birth control pills also diminish a woman's fear of unwanted pregnancy?

Sometimes science is stupid.

It certainly seemed to have reduced my first wife's fear of cheating on me...

... which is one of the many reasons she is an "ex".

On the positive side, it served to keep me from raising another man's get unknowingly, so it DID have a silver lining!

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[EndtheMadnessNow]

Anecdotally, my first wife was put on birth control pills in her early teens, with the objective of regulating out of control periods. It seems to have worked for that, but otherwise, she was just batshit crazy. Whether the birth control explains that or not is up for grabs, but it seems an interesting connection.

Fear is a natural response to danger, and the absence of it when it ought to be present gets a lot of folks killed. Therefore, it does seem to have the potential to be a self-solving problem.

.

Speaking of batshit crazy...Way back when I first got married my wife had been on them for awhile (before we met) and she had bi-polar like mood swings which got worse & worse. Thought I was going to go insane. Thought for sure we'd end in divorce. Never gave the pills a thought at all. After seeing countless number of doctors she was finally properly diagnosed. Turned out to be Graves disease. A few months after her surgery of having 98% of her thyroid removed the mood swings (and other symptoms) disappeared and her voice stayed the same. That female military surgeon saved our marriage.

[Grace]

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A worrying new study suggests combined oral contraceptives shrink a region of the brain associated with regulating emotions and processing fear signals. 150+ million women worldwide use oral contraceptives.

This affects voting as well.

This is interesting. 

I never took oral contraceptives because they made me horribly ill, I never could tolerate any of the brands so I used other methods in my birth control days.. as a result I really can't say much.

But if true this lack of normal fear responses coupled with the innocence of being brought up in some measure of financial privilege in a truly free nation and you can see why some of them look at us like we're aliens because we see very real dangers...

And your right, it absolutely affects voting..