Raising awareness for Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), so that we can accelerate research efforts and find a cure
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“I’m 23 years old… and my clitoris is completely numb, like the back of my elbow. I can’t orgasm. I can’t feel love for my own mother. I can’t even enjoy music anymore.”
That was Laureen Friedman’s raw testimony at a recent Safety Advocates on Mental Health Care panel.
She lives with PSSD — Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction. After taking Zoloft, she woke up one day with total genital numbness, zero libido, permanent inability to orgasm, and a sudden emotional numbness she describes as “chemical castration” and an “emotional lobotomy.” What used to be a deeply emotional, empathetic, songwriting young woman now feels disconnected from the core human experiences of love and pleasure.
She says she was never warned this could happen even after stopping the drug.
Millions are prescribed SSRIs every year, often without being told about rare but potentially permanent side effects like PSSD. People deserve full informed consent about what they’re risking.
Have you or anyone you know experienced lasting sexual or emotional side effects from antidepressants?
rosie retweeted
SSRIS literally almost k*lled me these last two years with how much they depleted my will to do anything. Whenever I brought this up to ANY of my psychs or drs the dosage was raised and I was virtually ignored with any other complaint I could make. Mocked as well.
rosie retweeted
Lives are destroyed by PSSD.
Marriages are destroyed by PSSD.
Careers are destroyed by PSSD.
Families are destroyed by PSSD.
Friendships are destroyed by PSSD.
Dreams are destroyed by PSSD.
Spiritualities are destroyed by PSSD.
it all begins after taking prescribed SSRIs‼️
It’s about the quality of the warning too, it needs to be sincere. We’re talking about losing a bodily function, potentially for life, with no understanding of how to get it back.
There should be a written consent form encompassing:
- PSSD
- PAWS
- Suicidality ⬆️
- Akathisia
How can global updates be this far apart?
In the UK, the MHRA has just strengthened warnings on SSRIs for suicidal thoughts/behaviors and persistent sexual dysfunction (PSSD). Risks that "are not new," they say — after years of patient pressure.
Meanwhile in Australia, the PBAC (Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee) is pushing to lift prescribing restrictions and expand PBS subsidies so more antidepressants can be handed out for a wider range of uses. Wider net. More access. Same drugs.
One country slowly admits the risks and tightens the messaging. Another widens the net and makes them cheaper and easier to prescribe.
UK MHRA: "Hey, maybe we should finally warn people properly that SSRIs can cause suicidal thoughts and lasting sexual dysfunction. Risks aren’t new, apparently."
Australia’s PBAC: "Cool story. Let’s make them cheaper and easier to prescribe for more things."
www1.racgp.org.au/newsgp/pro…
rosie retweeted
BBC medic did not really explain that PSSD is a post-SSRI drug injury rather than side effects nor did he make it clear this can be long lasting, even permanent whilst medics have no real solutions for sufferers.
BBC medic issues antidepressants warning for fluoxetine, sertraline and citalopram
dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-…
rosie retweeted
youtube.com/watch?v=ywOt23Je…
We're a relatively small channel dedicated to sharing the stories of people whose health and lives have been devastated by SSRIs. Many of those we've interviewed have faced dismissal, ridicule, and gaslighting, often from people more interested in defending these medications than listening to those harmed by them.
There are countless spaces where people can discuss their positive experiences with these drugs, and far fewer where those harmed can share their stories without being overshadowed or met with demands for "balance." The imbalance has overwhelmingly favored the former.
The MHRA is strengthening risk warnings. Yet even in response to an announcement acknowledging the need for better risk communication, the conversation is being redirected toward concerns about excessive negativity. That speaks volumes about the very imbalance we're discussing.
rosie retweeted
People need to know that certain drugs like SSRIs, Finasteride, accutane, can chemically permanently castrate you.
I'm not joking.
rosie retweeted
"People who have actually been damaged by antidepressants that have something like PSSD. At the moment, there's no lights at the end of the tunnel for them. There's not really any funding going on into testing."
@elliotbewick asks Jay Bhattacharya (@NIHDirector_Jay) about PSSD.
rosie retweeted
Last year, I found out the personal problems I had agonised over for the last decade of my life were caused by past #antidepressant use, and this has a name: #PSSD.
I discovered this right after I had quit my job, arranged to move countries on my own, and lost all my anchors in life. I lost my confidence and perspective on the world.
After I moved to the other side of the world, I had a major destabilisation that made my symptoms get as worse as the worst they've ever been.
There is no real support out there. So I'm building a life from scratch again on my own, while abroad, while devestated, while not fitting in, while the NHS are delaying starting my complaint now by over 9 months.
Meanwhile, the regulatory bodies and institutions that enabled this mess are dragging their heels, probably while I lose another decade.
Is someone out there actually going to help us?
rosie retweeted
These “drugs” for depression have taken away the best parts of humanity from these women…‼️👇👇👇
instagram.com/reel/DeHuydVAD…
My psychiatrist sectioned me and stated that I didn’t have sexual dysfunction from the medication I was suffering with “firm fixed delusional beliefs about the medication causing side-effects” 🤡
rosie retweeted
This.
This is why this injury has remained in the dark for decades. Because when we tell them- they just straight-up lie and refuse to record or report what we're telling them.
Depression doesn't cause numb genitals. No one actually thinks that's a symptom of depression.
#PSSD
rosie retweeted
When Lauren Friedman showed up at Amherst College, she was surprised to discover that almost every single girl in her dorm and on her athletic team was already taking SSRIs.
Inside jokes about Zoloft & Lexapro were common on campus, and everyone seemed deeply grateful their persistent anxiety and depression from teenage years was magically disappearing from a pharmaceutical drug.
Like her peers, @lololizzle had struggled earlier in life with both anxiety and depression -- so Zoloft seemed like a perfect solution. After all, all of her friends were taking it too, so how bad could it be?
Little did she know, SSRIs are causing a silent epidemic among Gen Zers called Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, or PSSD. Like untold tens of thousands of other people just like her, Lauren now has completely lost her libido, sensation in her genitals, and even a sense of emotional connection with the people around her... PERMANENTLY.
She says she and others like her were NEVER given informed consent about the risk of developing PSSD, and American doctors will rarely even diagnose the condition at all.
Whether it's birth control being thrown in the faces of teenage girls to magically "regulate your hormones" or Zoloft instantly prescribed to "make you happy," one thing is clear--the young women of Generation Z are being poisoned en masse without any understanding of what may happen to them down the line.
rosie retweeted
There is a silent epidemic of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) plaguing Generation Z today that virtually NO ONE is talking about -- causing a complete and permanent loss of sex drive, sensation, and emotional connection for the rest of your life. 💔
Lauren is just one of countless young women struggling with the condition, which doctors in America today are still incredibly reluctant to diagnose -- despite our culture's willingness to prescribe antidepressants to anyone with minimal symptoms.
Today, she's speaking out, warning other young women like her that your Zoloft prescription may not be harmless after all... despite PSSD being completely ABSENT from any warning labels on SSRI drugs themselves 👀
rosie retweeted
“Finasteride will kill your sex drive.”
What gets left out of the PFS conversation:
Physical
Dry eyes and skin
Head pressure
Frequent urination
Autonomic dysfunction
Muscle twitches
Muscle wasting
Weakness and fatigue
Bone pain
Osteopenia
Tooth and gum problems
Metabolic changes
Lipoatrophy
Skin pigmentation changes
Thinned skin
Prominent veins
Anhidrosis
Sleep apnoea (obstructive/central)
Digestive problems
Sexual
Penile atrophy and tissue changes
Perineal muscle atrophy
Genital pain
Genital numbness
Watery ejaculate
Reduced ejaculate volume
Testicular atrophy
Loss of libido and sexual desire
Erectile dysfunction
Loss of spontaneous erections
Premature ejaculation
Increased refractory period
Pleasureless orgasm
Post-orgasm asthenia
Neurological
Anhedonia
Anxiety and panic attacks
Insomnia
Derealisation
Cognitive impairment and “brain fog”
Memory impairment
Vision impairment
Tinnitus
Seizure-like symptoms
Brain Zaps
Suicidality
It’s long past time we stopped reducing PFS to sexual dysfunction alone.
More and more people are speaking out. Please also speak out, reduce the stigma around it and tell your truth.
A reminder to the post-drug syndrome community: we need more of you to speak up.
If you’re living with PFS, PSSD, Post-Accutane Syndrome, or another persistent post-drug condition, please consider recording a short testimonial for Moral Medicine.
It does not need to be a full interview. It does not need to be polished. A simple 2–5 minute video on your phone is enough.
Tell people what you took, what happened, what symptoms have persisted, and how this has changed your life.
Awareness only grows when people are willing to speak.
For years, patients have been dismissed, minimized, and told these conditions are rare, psychological, or unrelated to the drugs they took. The more real people who come forward, the harder that becomes to maintain.
If you’ve been asking what you can do to help this movement, this is something you can do right now.
Record your story and send it to [email protected].
You can also record it in your native language. English is not required.
Please don’t wait for someone else to speak for you. If you’re able to tell your story, tell it.
For more information about submitting a testimonial, please reach out to [email protected].
rosie retweeted
”Our birth right as humans was stolen from us. Our right to our own brains and personality and sexuality was stripped from us forever.” @amnesty @FrankAmnesty @ihmisoikeus @FIN_NHRI @EURightsAgency
