Mental Health

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Do you think SSRIs are a good idea? (self.mentalhealth)

submitted 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) by Psychonometry to c/mentalhealth

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Mild NSFW warning: this post mentions sexual side effects of medication.

SSRIs are the most common type of antidepressant (examples are Prozac/fluoxetine, Zoloft/sertraline, Paxil/paroxetine).

If you have experience with them, do you think they're a good idea?

I came across a paper about side effects which I haven't heard discussed before. Many people know that SSRIs have sexual effects, but apparently they also affect fertility.

This paper describes SSRIs as "gonadotoxic", leading to effects like "decreased sperm concentration and motility, increased [DNA] fragmentation, and decreased reproductive organ weights".

The paper does say "this effect does seem to be reversible", so if you stop SSRIs, your sex organs should apparently go back to normal. But still, some people are on SSRIs for long periods of time, right?

I would be interested to hear others' thoughts, if you have any.

Edit: Thanks for the replies to this post, they're interesting.

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 months ago

Personally, I was very resistant to try antidepressents until about a year ago (because I wanted to solve it myself and not be dependent on drugs), but tried them at a low point and they really helped. I'd recommend anyone curious about them to give them ago. If they don't work then at least you'll know, and as far as I'm aware, the side effects aren't permanent*.

However, I think there needs to be some other support in place, like therapy. It's not going to magically change your outlook and make you happy or give you the tools to deal with challenges. It just lifts your mood enough to be able to push yourself to make those changes. For me, it made me less stressed and anxious about everything, which means I can try and enjoy things more rather than worrying about things changing.

I know there are (or at least, I think there are) a lot of places out there which will prescribe just antidepressants and treat them as a magical cure-all. IMO that's not the best way of doing it. I think taking antidepressants should be normalized, but at the same time, for the love of god, actually try to treat the underlying issues.

Oh, and don't force people to take antidepressants without informed consent. I don't know why I have to clarify this, but I have a friend online who thinks people don't know what's best for them and it's appropriate for them to be forced to take meds. Stop that. People need to find what works for them and be engaged in the treatment process.

I have sadly noticed a reduction in, uh, "friskiness" since taking the meds. Not sure how much of that is because of the meds, and how much of it is because I psyched myself up so much thinking that I'd never orgasm again. Biggest sex organ is the mind and all that. Still, it's not as bad as I worried it would be, and there are plenty of people out there living with low libedos naturally anyway.

I also feel a bit... Fatigued? Tired? Not really sure how to describe it. Don't know if that's the meds or just as a result of bad habits I picked up while being in a bad spot.

* I am not a doctor. This may be false. Don't use the ramblings of some guy online as medical advice.