This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women, Hormones, and the Law of Unintended ConsequencesPenguin, 2019 M10 1 - 320 pages An eye-opening book that reveals crucial information every woman taking hormonal birth control should know This groundbreaking book sheds light on how hormonal birth control affects women--and the world around them--in ways we are just now beginning to understand. By allowing women to control their fertility, the birth control pill has revolutionized women's lives. Women are going to college, graduating, and entering the workforce in greater numbers than ever before, and there's good reason to believe that the birth control pill has a lot to do with this. But there's a lot more to the pill than meets the eye. Although women go on the pill for a small handful of targeted effects (pregnancy prevention and clearer skin, yay!), sex hormones can't work that way. Sex hormones impact the activities of billions of cells in the body at once, many of which are in the brain. There, they play a role in influencing attraction, sexual motivation, stress, hunger, eating patterns, emotion regulation, friendships, aggression, mood, learning, and more. This means that being on the birth control pill makes women a different version of themselves than when they are off of it. And this is a big deal. For instance, women on the pill have a dampened cortisol spike in response to stress. While this might sound great (no stress!), it can have negative implications for learning, memory, and mood. Additionally, because the pill influences who women are attracted to, being on the pill may inadvertently influence who women choose as partners, which can have important implications for their relationships once they go off it. Sometimes these changes are for the better . . . but other times, they're for the worse. By changing what women's brains do, the pill also has the ability to have cascading effects on everything and everyone that a woman encounters. This means that the reach of the pill extends far beyond women's own bodies, having a major impact on society and the world. This paradigm-shattering book provides an even-handed, science-based understanding of who women are, both on and off the pill. It will change the way that women think about their hormones and how they view themselves. It also serves as a rallying cry for women to demand more information from science about how their bodies and brains work and to advocate for better research. This book will help women make more informed decisions about their health, whether they're on the pill or off of it. |
Contents
1 | |
15 | |
Evolutions answer to a philosophical question | 34 |
The basics the controversial and a fish with three genders | 49 |
Part IIThis Is Your Brain on Drugs | 73 |
How the pill works and whats in yours | 98 |
Attraction and mate choice on the pill | 121 |
Sexual side effects hers and | 145 |
The pill and your stress response | 169 |
THE LAW OF UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES | 195 |
WHY DIDNT I KNOW THIS ALREADY? | 214 |
WHAT NOW? A LETTER TO MY DAUGHTER | 235 |
To pill or not to pill? That is the question | 251 |
INDEX | 297 |
Other editions - View all
This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women ... Sarah Hill Limited preview - 2019 |
This Is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women ... Sarah Hill No preview available - 2019 |
This is Your Brain on Birth Control: The Surprising Science of Women ... Sarah E. Hill No preview available - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
ability able activities actually attractive behavior better biological birth control pill body brain cause cells changes chapter choice choosing comes consider cortisol cues cycle decrease depression desire don't effects estrogen everything example experience faces feel female fertility genes getting given going happens hormonal contraceptives hormones huge human idea increase influence interest investment it's Journal keep less levels lives look male mate means men's mood motivation naturally cycling once oral contraceptives ovulation partners percent person phase pill pill-taking women play possible preferences pregnancy pretty prevent probably progesterone progestins psychology reason relationship release reproductive response risk role scent sex hormones sexual sexy Social story stress suggests talk tell testosterone there's things turn types woman