Antibiotics’ negative effects on the natural microbiome in the body and researchers are starting to understand how such changes can also effect our mental health as well.

Study published in Physiology & Behavior found that people who have taken antibiotics within the past three months pay more attention to negative facial expressions in cohort of young, healthy college students treated for some minor issues. They especially paid more attention to sad facial expressions.

Because prior studies have shown antibiotics increase risk of depression, “It is a commonly used method in psychology to measure how much attention people pay to different emotional expressions. This allows us to detect subtle changes in the way people process emotional stimuli. We know that people who pay more attention to negative emotions have a higher risk of developing mental illnesses such as depression and anxiety,” states study’s author, Laura Steenbergen.

Most people run for the antibiotics for the most minor of issues. Seriously, toughen up. Antibiotics are not benign drugs with a host of potential risks that are now coming into light, especially from their effects of nuking the microbiome, affecting their symbiotic nature with the body.

KVA Johnson and L Steenbergen. Do common antibiotic treatments influence emotional processing. Physiology & Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.physbeh.2022.113900