post-SSRI sexual – A 23-year-old Vanderbilt student told an audience in Washington that stopping SSRIs left her with persistent sexual dysfunction and emotional numbness, a condition she calls “PSSD.” Doctors say symptoms can continue after stopping the drugs, there’s no formal
WASHINGTON — Laura Friedman, 23, sat onstage in a ballroom at an upscale hotel and spoke about something she said she can’t feel anymore: sex, and the emotional closeness she once had.
Friedman. a Vanderbilt University senior. told the audience she stopped taking antidepressants and then experienced what she described as “chemical castration. ” including complete loss of feeling in her genitals. She also said she lost her sense of emotional connection. adding. “I can’t feel love for my own mother. which is the hardest thing on Earth.”.
Her remarks landed at an event hosted by the MAHA Institute. a group of enthusiasts of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s “Make America Healthy Again” movement that focuses on what attendees describe as the overmedicalization of mental health. Other young people were in the room. and Friedman said they too faced unintended challenges with psychiatric medications and SSRIs — selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.
Friedman said she didn’t want to become a public spokesperson for post-SSRI sexual dysfunction. a condition not formally recognized in the United States. “I think it’s pretty clear I don’t want to be here,” she said. “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.”.
She said her goal was not just to describe what happened to her. It was to prevent others from going through the same outcome.
There has been momentum on SSRIs in the political sphere as well. Following Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s confirmation as health secretary. President Donald Trump instructed the administration to assess the “threat” posed to children by the prescription of SSRIs. antipsychotics. mood stabilizers and stimulants. The executive order. aimed at ending what it described as an “over-reliance on medication and treatments. ” sparked panic among individuals who rely on psychiatric medications to manage mental health. On X. one user wrote. “Literally would not be alive today without my SSRI. ” and another warned. “If they take these medications away. it will cause mass tragedies.”.
While Friedman and the MAHA Institute crowd pushed for more attention to non-medication approaches — including psychotherapy and lifestyle changes such as improved sleep hygiene. exercise and diet — speakers also framed antidepressants as tools that may still be necessary for some people. They emphasized monitoring and careful medical oversight rather than simple elimination.
At the center of the conversation is PSSD: what it is, how it can persist, and why the U.S. approach still lags behind other jurisdictions.
Friedman’s story also arrived as antidepressant use among younger people has been rising. A 2024 study in the journal Pediatrics found that the monthly antidepressant dispensing rate for young people increased by 66.3% from January 2016 to December 2022, as depression rates have risen.
Doctors describe PSSD as follows.
Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction can present differently among patients. but it is generally defined by the emergence or persistence of sexual dysfunction after using SSRIs. according to doctors who have studied the condition. Dr. Kenneth Peters. chief of urology at Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan and medical director of the Beaumont Women’s Urology and Pelvic Health Center. described the mismatch between what many people expect and what some patients experience.
“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 said side effects can include genital numbness. trouble getting an erection or difficulty reaching orgasm — and that those effects may even increase after stopping the medication. Peters added that the symptoms aren’t always strictly sexual. He said some patients report losing interest in activities they used to love. struggling with emotional connection. and experiencing physical symptoms such as changes in bladder and bowel function. “It is a striking thing when you see it as a clinician,” he said.
Dr. Irwin Goldstein. head physician. co-founder and director of San Diego Sexual Medicine. said older explanations tied the shifts to the original mood problems that SSRIs were prescribed to treat. But he said his research has found physiological changes in people who experience PSSD, including nerve function and tissue damage.
Peters also pointed out that similar issues have been reported after stopping other, non-psychiatric medications used for skin health and hair loss.
The regulatory gap is part of why advocates say the condition remains hard to pin down. In 2019. PSSD was recognized by the European Medical Agency. a regulatory authority similar to the Food and Drug Administration in the United States. Peters said recognition doesn’t exist in the U.S., and there aren’t formalized diagnosis criteria.
The debate over antidepressants has become more charged since the Trump administration review and the political attention on psychiatric medications. Kennedy has shared conspiracy theories that falsely linked antidepressants to school shootings. while also promoting the idea that he’s focused on “gold standard science.” Against that backdrop. some patients and advocates argue that raising awareness about PSSD should not come at the cost of cutting off access to medications that can help.
“We don’t want to eliminate the drugs, I want to make that clear,” Goldstein said. “But we don’t want to cause this PSSD problem, it’s a separate and bad condition.”
How common is PSSD, though?. Goldstein said about one in six Americans is on an SSRI. Those who develop PSSD appear to be a very small percentage. he said. but he added it’s difficult to estimate. “Not everybody who takes a drug gets these problems,” he said. “It could be 1%, it could be 4%. We don’t really know how to assess it.”.
Peters said ignoring patients who report PSSD symptoms is dangerous. In an international survey on PSSD he put out with Corewell Health, he said the majority of participants reported seeking medical care but that over 50% of clinicians they saw dismissed it.
For people who do experience PSSD, the timeline can vary sharply. Peters said symptoms can subside after months or years for some patients, but for others it can “last a lifetime.” He said no official treatment exists.
Patients and advocates have experimented with information gathered online, including discussions on subreddits and other community forums. Peters said many PSSD patients get their medical information off of subreddit accounts. where people share experiences and try different approaches. He acknowledged that these health-related communities can help people feel seen. while also warning that not all information online is credible. “Though health-related subreddits help many people feel seen and heard. it’s important to remember not all health information on social media or the internet at large is credible. ” he said.
He described a long list of experimental avenues people have explored, from hormonal manipulation to electrical stimulation.
Even with patient demand for clearer answers, funding remains a central constraint. Peters said most PSSD research that exists is patient-funded. and he said he is applying for a grant from the National Institutes of Health with hopes it can identify those most at risk in the short term. “The problem is funding,” Peters said.
Advocates are also pushing for more information to be shared with patients at the point of prescribing. Peters said they want doctors to discuss potential risks without discouraging people from taking something that could be life-saving.
“You don’t want to scare people from taking something that could be potentially life-saving for them either,” Peters said.
The tension in the room during Friedman’s remarks was clear: antidepressants can be lifesaving for many people. yet some former users say stopping them can leave lingering harm. Friedman left the audience with a simple message — not an argument about policy in the abstract. but a plea that her experience not be accepted as inevitable.
And in a time when political leaders are debating psychiatric medication use, doctors say the country is still missing key pieces: formal U.S. recognition, standardized diagnostic criteria, and better research into how often PSSD occurs and who is most vulnerable.
PSSD SSRIs antidepressants post-SSRI sexual dysfunction Laura Friedman MAHA Institute Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Donald Trump NIH Corewell Health Cleveland Clinic Pediatrics study