A 23-year-old woman is speaking out about a condition she says developed after taking a common medication.
Lauren Friedman, a senior at Vanderbilt University, says she has been struggling with lasting symptoms since taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in 2022. The medications are regularly prescribed to treat conditions such as anxiety, depression, and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD).
According to the Mayo Clinic: “Serotonin is one of many chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters. Neurotransmitters carry signals between nerve cells in the brain, called neurons.
After carrying a signal between brain cells, serotonin usually is taken back into those cells, a process called reuptake. But SSRIs block this process. Blocking reuptake makes more serotonin available to help pass messages between brain cells. SSRIs are called selective because they mainly affect serotonin, not other neurotransmitters.”
SSRIs side effects
According to Friedman, the effects have gone far beyond the treatment period. She says she can no longer experience orgasm, sexual satisfaction, or the same emotional connection to the people around her.
Speaking during the “Overmedicalization of Mental Health” event hosted by the MAHA Institute, Friedman described the impact the condition has had on her life.
“I can’t feel love for my own mother, which is the hardest thing on Earth,” she said, according to UNILAD.
While the medications help many people manage mental health conditions, Friedman believes she was not fully informed about the possible risks before starting treatment.
Described it as “chemical castration”
She has described her experience as a form of “chemical castration.”
“I think it’s pretty clear I don’t want to be here,” she went on. “I feel so deeply humiliated and dehumanized to share to groups of strangers and the press, and inevitably the internet, that I’m quite literally sexually defunct and emotionally lobotomized, which is the antithesis of who I was before this.”
The condition she attributes her symptoms to is known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, or PSSD.
According to PSSD Network: “A subset of people experience a debilitating condition known as Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD) following the use of SSRIs, SNRIs and other SRI medications.
Common symptoms include, but are not limited to: genital numbness, a complete loss of libido, erectile dysfunction, vaginal dryness, cognitive impairment, anhedonia and emotional blunting.”
“It is a striking thing when you see it as a clinician”
Dr. Kenneth Peters, chief of urology at Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan, said PSSD symptoms may continue even after someone stops taking the medication.
“Most of us expect if we’re on a drug and have side effects, we stop the drug, we stop the side effects, but it’s the opposite of this,” Peters said.
He explained that physical symptoms may include genital numbness, erectile dysfunction, and difficulty reaching orgasm. He also said some patients report changes in bowel and bladder function, as well as a reduced emotional connection to activities or relationships that once brought them joy.
“It is a striking thing when you see it as a clinician,” he told USA Today.
PSSD is not formally recognized in the United States, although the European Medicines Agency acknowledged the condition in 2019.
“I think most patients get their medical information off of subreddit accounts, where people who have this, who tried a million different things talk about their experience,” Peters said, according to UNILAD.
At the same time, however, he also emphasized that SSRIs remain an important treatment option.
“You don’t want to scare people from taking something that could be potentially life-saving for them either,” Peters said.
This is not medical advice. If you have questions or concerns about your medication, please consult your healthcare provider.
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