New study confirms the pill actually can impact your quality of life

An estimated 100 million women around the world use the contraceptive pill everyday.

They give us the option to plan and control our reproductive choices, but they can also bring on some pretty awful side effects.

In a recent study, scientists at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden confirmed that this popular form of contraception can actually have a negative impact on a woman's quality of life. 

Researchers gave 340 healthy women aged between 18 and 35 either hormonal contraceptive pills or placebos over a three month period.

The results found that the women who took the hormonal pill reported reduced feelings of overall well-being, including negative impacts on mood, self-control and energy.

However, researchers did note that despite these findings, the pill didn’t actually appear to increase the participants’ risk of depression.

In a slightly concerning statement on the institute’s website, the scientists admitted that the medical community knows “surprisingly little” about how the pill can effect a woman’s health, and emphasized the need for further studies into the subject.

They also noted that because the changes observed between the participants were relatively small, the results should be interpreted cautiously. 

However, the study's co-author, Dr. Niklas Zethraeus, did encourage women to take these findings into account when choosing a method of contraception. 

So, if you reckon your pill is making you feel a bit worse for wear, you're not the only one.