Luca’s Story
By Luca, Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), Italy, January 10, 2021
I'm Luca, a 20-year-old Italian student. In the spring of 2020, I had an anxiety disorder due to minor health problems, for that reason I was prescribed an SSRI antidepressant. I took the drug for a little less than two months after which I tapered it as I barely tolerated the side effects on my ability to focus and the original problem was now over.
A few weeks after the discontinuation I took a pill of minimum dose of the drug and have since suffered from PSSD. My symptoms consist of severely reduced genital sensitivity, erectile dysfunction, almost non-existent libido, delayed ejaculation, and change in seminal fluid consistency. Before taking the drug, despite my anxiety, I had never had any problems of a sexual nature. The day before the pill that caused me PSSD, I was in perfect health, the next day the all symptoms occurred simultaneously and to date, I have not had any improvement.
I went to my GP, but he refused to acknowledge the existence of the pathology I likely suffer from and attributed my symptoms to a psychosomatic disorder. I then consulted four psychiatrists, two denied the existence of PSSD, one acknowledged that these problems could arise following treatment with SSRIs, and finally, the last one said he was interested in investigating the problem while doubting that it was PSSD. It is hard for a patient to be ignored when they have a pathology that has such a major impact on their life, in addition to physical damage they are also subjected to further psychological stress.
To date, there are no treatments for PSSD, many patients experiment with various substances but without any success, for the future, there is still little hope among the affected as our problem is overlooked by most professionals, fortunately, there are some rare exceptions. As a consequence of the state of things, in the community of the suffering, there is an air of despair, many are annihilated, some have even taken their own lives, especially among those who suffer from emotional blunting and anhedonia. What is essential to do now is to warn patients prescribed antidepressants about these effects that can potentially permanently ruin lives. There are reports of PSSD dating back to the early 2000s. How is it possible that 20 years later doctors still ignore the problem? If I had known I was taking this risk, I would never have accepted the treatment, the risk-benefit ratio was not favorable in my case, as it was not for many other people with PSSD. In light of these side effects, serotonergic antidepressants should only be used in extreme cases of absolute necessity. We need awareness and research to give hope to those like me who have been denied the possibility of having a normal love life.