After researching SSRI risks for the past 17 years, I took a hiatus from regularly covering the subject to spend time pursuing another project. Now that this project, a fictional novel unrelated to pharmaceutical and drug regulator malfeasances, was recently published, I'm back to covering a drug-related topic today. I first heard the new acronym, PSSD, which stands for Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), a few years ago.
Any reader with a Twitter account likely knows PSSD has been gaining considerable coverage in the past six months or so. This is likely because the pharmaceutically-induced harm negatively impacts more people than drug companies and doctors will acknowledge.
Until receiving the guest post below, I didn't fully realize that PSSD can cause many symptoms and is not limited to sexual dysfunction. My comments follow Sean's post below.
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Sean has chosen to keep his surname hidden.
My name is Sean; I am a 23-year-old male from the USA. During the COVID pandemic in 2020, I was experiencing more anxiety than usual. I had always been an anxious person, so getting help for that was on my to-do list. The therapists were fully booked then, and I could not get an appointment. My doctor was down the street, so I made an appointment to discuss my concerns. After a 15-minute consultation, my doctor diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and prescribed fluoxetine, more commonly known by its brand name, Prozac. At no point did my doctor inform me of the possible side effects associated with Prozac.
Within 3 months of the 20mg Prozac tablet, it appeared it wasn't doing much, if anything at all, to lift my anxiety. It was pretty much ineffective. After speaking with a nurse via telephone, I decided to taper off by following her guidance. She told me to split the pill in half and take it every other day for the next couple of weeks, then stop once it ran out. I suffered no withdrawal symptoms or other side effects during my tapering regime.
After hearing from multiple people that it takes a couple of tries to find the right medication, I gave in again and went back over a year later to try another SSRI. This time it was Citalopram at 10mg per day. This new doctor diagnosed me with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). Once again, I was not informed about any possible side effects Citalopram could pose.
Within an hour of taking the first pill, my genitals were completely numb. In the hours following, I experienced intense brain fog, and I was losing my range of emotions and sexual function. At this point, I was panicking and had a mental breakdown.
When I woke up the next day, I felt like I was dead, as if my soul had been removed from my body. Music became nothing but a sound. The best way to describe it would be like making an animal listen to music; they don't understand it. I felt nothing from seeing my family, no more love or empathy, no more happiness--just nothing. My entire life has just been shot down from one pill of an SSRI. I thought to myself, how is this even possible?
After becoming suicidal from this horrifying experience, I tried turning to alcohol. I didn't think it could get any worse, but it did. I couldn't feel the effects of the alcohol I was drinking; I literally had no escape.
I went to see my doctor and explained how unlucky I felt for experiencing this after my first day. I was told that what I'm experiencing is depression. I knew for a fact that this was incorrect. Genital numbness is not a symptom of any mental illness. I experienced depression as a teenager and told the doctor that it felt nothing like this. After I was given another antidepressant, I threw it away and researched what I was experiencing.
After a few hours of searching, I came across the PSSD subreddit. That was the day I learned I may be experiencing Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD)
I prayed for my body to return to normal as I distracted myself from suicide daily. I felt as if I became asexual overnight. I had no libido and no attraction to anyone. There was suddenly no bond that could be formed. I tried talking to my friends at school and felt like I was talking to a wall. There was no connection to anything.
After seeing multiple doctors and informing them about this, they all became defensive and tried to put me on more antidepressants. I felt so violated. I was shocked that PSSD is not even listed as a side effect in the USA.
Fast forward to 2023, as I now write about my experience. I have seen no improvements in my PSSD symptoms. The fear of this lasting forever has become a reality, and the only way that the thousands of us suffering can escape from this is through research. Having to fund all of this on our own is disgusting, but we don't have a choice as we are still being ignored by the FDA and many doctors and psychiatrists.
Recently, a documentary about antidepressant withdrawal was released by BBC Panorama. The documentary mentions PSSD and those of us who have been left to suffer are also left with no answers. In the UK, the MHRA and Royal College of Psychiatrists have received reports of PSSD since 1991, and yet neither of these organizations has addressed it. In 2018, a petition was made to the FDA asking to include PSSD somewhere on the labels, yet we are still being ignored. Technically, the only action so far has been from the European Medical Agency, whose 2019 updated SSRI label now states that 'enduring sexual dysfunction may persist'; however, there is no mention of permanent genital numbness and debilitating emotional blunting.
There has been some recent literature, https://www.pssdnetwork.org/literature containing one study that estimated the prevalence of PSSD to be 1 in 216. Nowadays, this should be alarming as millions of people are taking antidepressants, and the majority of them are not being informed of this serious risk. No matter how small the chance of PSSD might be, tens of thousands of sufferers, including myself, can promise whoever is reading this that it is not worth it. No innocent soul should have to go through a life of endless torture and emotional and physical feelings of "nothingness."
Sean
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SSRI withdrawal is a harrowing experience, but eventually, most sufferers see an end to their symptoms after withdrawal is complete. PSSD, however, appears to be permanent. Robbing people of physical and emotional intimacy and leaving them numb, with little to no support and acknowledgment of this iatrogenic harm, is best described as a rape of the mind, body, and soul.
Like SSRI withdrawal, PSSD is downplayed by many prescribers. Their years of medical training did not provide any information about PSSD, and they're unlikely to look for symptoms of this disorder in their medical practice. Blaming PSSD symptoms on some DSM-created labels is easier and more convenient.
Medical professionals no longer listen to patients but instead stick to their manuals and outdated training. SSRIs are prescribed as plasters to heal normal, albeit troubling, situations and related emotions. When people are uninformed of risks and accept the dressing only to later suffer iatrogenic harms, the same prescribers refuse to acknowledge the damage their actions caused--and they give out more plasters, or "Band-Aids" with specific brand names.
One 10mg pill robbed Sean--and thousands of others.
I hope Sean's guest post is shared widely. A handsome young man who should be enjoying life but instead is suffering and has nobody to turn to except support group members and old bloggers like me.
For more information and support on PSSD, follow PSSD Network on Twitter and on their website.
https://twitter.com/PSSDNetwork
https://www.pssdnetwork.org
Bob Fiddaman
