High time to act upon sexual dysfunction due to antidepressant intake
Numerous problems like sexual dysfunction post taking antidepressants needs greater recognition, said a psychiatrist specialising in the field.
Prof. David Healy wrote that problems may begin after only a few doses and leave someone affected for life, or a relatively mild dysfunction can worsen dramatically when the person stops treatment.
Called Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), the core features of the condition are genital numbing, loss or muting of orgasm and loss of libido. According to Prof. Healy, many patients are just as concerned by additional features like emotional numbing or derealisation. Both sexes, all ages and every ethnic group can be affected.
Prof. Healy said, 10% of people of sexually active years in developed countries are on antidepressants chronically. Nearly 20 % of the population, therefore, may not be able to make love the way they want. In some deprived areas, the figure may be much higher. Some likely comfort themselves with the thought that once they stop treatment, they will get back to normal, when in fact they may be even less able to function.
In June 2019, in response to a petition lodged by Prof. Healy and colleagues in 2018, the European Medicine Agency asked pharmaceutical companies to warn that sexual dysfunction can endure after anti-depressant treatment stops.
Prof. Healy said: there is a great need tor recognize these treatment-related enduring sexual dysfunctions and pinpoint how they arise and might be treated.
Prof. David Healy wrote that problems may begin after only a few doses and leave someone affected for life, or a relatively mild dysfunction can worsen dramatically when the person stops treatment.
Called Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), the core features of the condition are genital numbing, loss or muting of orgasm and loss of libido. According to Prof. Healy, many patients are just as concerned by additional features like emotional numbing or derealisation. Both sexes, all ages and every ethnic group can be affected.
Prof. Healy said, 10% of people of sexually active years in developed countries are on antidepressants chronically. Nearly 20 % of the population, therefore, may not be able to make love the way they want. In some deprived areas, the figure may be much higher. Some likely comfort themselves with the thought that once they stop treatment, they will get back to normal, when in fact they may be even less able to function.
In June 2019, in response to a petition lodged by Prof. Healy and colleagues in 2018, the European Medicine Agency asked pharmaceutical companies to warn that sexual dysfunction can endure after anti-depressant treatment stops.
Prof. Healy said: there is a great need tor recognize these treatment-related enduring sexual dysfunctions and pinpoint how they arise and might be treated.