PSSD Institute

At the PSSD Institute, we are an international non-profit organization dedicated to research, education, and advocacy around #PSSD and related post-drug syndromes. Our mission is to secure recognition, accountability, and hope for those affected by long-term antidepressant harms. We are grateful that The New York Times Magazine has published a landmark investigation into PSSD, and worked with us to speak to members of our community about how their lives have been adversely affected as a result of being prescribed #SSRIs - regrettably, without informed consent. Our official statement on @NTYmag's article is here: pssdinstitute.org/news/nyt-pssd-…

@CitizenJour2030 @Innov_Clin_Neur @IrccsMe PSSD stands for Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, a condition where sexual and other adverse effects from antidepressants continue even after stopping them. Please take a look at our resources for further information: pssdinstitute.org

@PSSDInstitute @Innov_Clin_Neur @IrccsMe What is PSSD?

In a letter published in Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience (@Innov_Clin_Neur), neurologist Dr Rocco Salvatore Calabrò (@IrccsMe) discusses reports of enduring sexual difficulties and the severe impact on relationships and quality of life for people with #PSSD. Calabrò emphasises the need for healthcare providers to recognize PSSD, and calls for further research to support treatments that could alleviate the burden of this debilitating condition. Read the letter: innovationscns.com/letters-to-the…

First realising you have #PSSD can be really tough. Due to limited recognition, many are left to navigate their symptoms in isolation. People with PSSD often learn about their symptoms online, eventually finding support through virtual communities. If you could give one piece of advice to someone discovering PSSD for the first time, what would it be? What do you wish you had been told when you first discovered it? Share your thoughts ⬇️

A systematic review and meta-analysis in the European Journal of Clinical Pharmacology found that #SSRIs are associated with a significantly increased risk of sexual dysfunction - including orgasmic dysfunction and reduced sexual satisfaction vs placebo. Read about the study: consultant360.com/exclusive/meta…

Join us on 30th April for a webinar on Understanding Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction ('PSSD'), 5pm BST w/ audience Q&A. What do we know about PSSD & what can we do to protect & support patients? IIPDW-PSSD.eventbrite.co.uk/?aff=X @yassie_pirani @DrDavidHealy @Roy_PSSD @ROSIE_PSSD

We're looking forward to supporting the @Institute_PDW webinar on Understanding Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction on 30 April. PSSD sufferers from our community will be taking part in a panel discussion on what can be done to protect and support people with PSSD. They will be joined by experts @DrDavidHealy and @yassie_pirani. Don't miss it! Register: IIPDW-PSSD.eventbrite.co.uk/?aff=X

Don’t miss this upcoming event on PSSD, hosted by the International Institute for Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal (@Institute_PDW) in partnership with the PSSD Institute (@PSSDInstitute). 👇 eventbrite.co.uk/e/understandin…

@hanna_pssd Thanks for sharing, Hanna! Glad you found our resources useful

I just found this great section about media coverage and other resources about PSSD pssdinstitute.org/media-resources

It’s because psychiatric diagnoses are uniquely subjective—without objective biomarkers—that they can all too often be used to misdiagnose iatrogenic harms resulting from psychiatric interventions. In the case of Guin, her post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) was attributed to a return of her depression. But as anyone who’s experienced this condition will rightly point out, numb genitals are not and never have been a feature of depression nor any other psychiatric diagnosis. Reading Guin’s words—and the words of others who shared their stories with Daniel Bergner—in the New York Times Magazine last month felt like a turning point. If you’ve not read it yet, you’ll find a gift article link to it below—and we recommend following @PSSDInstitute and @PSSDNetwork for more on this subject. From all of us at Inner Compass Initiative, we thank those of you who bravely shared their experiences.

Grateful to @SecKennedy for taking on the psychiatric drug crisis and helping bring visibility to an issue that has harmed so many. While psychiatric drug prescriptions are higher than ever, millions are struggling with dependence, withdrawal, and long-term harm that no one warned them about. There are zero official tapering guidelines for antidepressants, leaving people trapped on drugs they were told were “easy to stop”… and seriously harmed when they tried to come off exactly as their doctor instructed. In the most devastating cases, people develop a permanent neurological condition called PSSD (Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction) — @PSSDNetwork @PSSDInstitute which blunts emotion, impairs cognitive and sensory processing, and causes profound sexual dysfunction. It has been documented even after a single dose #pssd #ssriwithdrawal

(🧵1/2) The UK’s medicines regulator (MHRA) has finished its 18-month antidepressant safety review, saying it’s rolling out updated patient leaflets with clearer warnings on suicide risk and persistent sexual dysfunction that can continue after stopping, as well as a new “patient card” to “further highlight the risk of suicidal behaviour.” The announcement (linked below) says that “patient and family experiences” informed the review and that updates “better reflect patient feedback.” For those of you in the US and elsewhere: the FDA and other regulators have no equivalent review and no updated black-box language, despite the exact same harms being reported here in the US and across the globe. Stronger warnings in the UK are a small step forward, but they’re still just words on paper, decades late. Real change is when the regulators across the world finally act, and in addition to the stronger warnings for starting antidepressants, also fund proper tapering and withdrawal support. We’ll keep watching and keep pushing.

It’s good to see a psychiatric department posting about PSSD. Thank you Columbia Psychiatry for drawing attention to Daniel Bergner’s article. Here’s to a future of patients and professionals working together to tackle this injury🤝

Widely prescribed SSRIs may affect sexual development, raising concerns about long-term impacts. Dr. Amir Levine underscores the potential issue, warning that “we are failing to ask something very important.” nytimes.com/2025/11/12/mag…

In the UK, the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM) has recommended updates to antidepressant Patient Information Leaflets (PILs) to better reflect the potential for sexual dysfunction that persists after medication has ceased. Whilst it does not cover the breadth of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), we acknowledge this important first step towards informing patients of potential continuous adverse sexual affects from SSRIs. Over the past 18 months, an expert working group heard directly from those affected by PSSD, including members from our community, to consider real-world experiences as part of the review. While there are barriers to gaining widespread recognition of PSSD, we consider the CHM’s recommendation to be significant. We implore those able to continue investigating and spotlighting this issue so that change may happen. gov.uk/government/new…

If you’re in the NYC area, please come to @joannamoncrieff’s talk on Tuesday, Dec 2, at Columbia University, on her wonderful and timely book, Chemically Imbalanced.

'For decades, patients have described these effects with extraordinary consistency, yet ..been met with disbelief, silence, or stigma.. this article has brought international attention to a medical harm that has been hidden in plain sight.' @PSSDInstitute pssdinstitute.org/news/nyt-pssd-…

We worked with The New York Times Magazine to speak to young people in our community about how the absence of informed consent has resulted in impactful, life-altering consequences for them. This landmark investigation shines a light on what has been a dark, hidden space for decades: its earned place on the cover signals that now, more than ever, conversations are happening that people who have been harmed by SSRIs and other psychotropic drugs so urgently need. We hear you. You deserve to be heard. #PSSD

The print version of the NYT Magazine article on PSSD came out on Sunday. It was the cover article for this edition. This is a major step forward. Please follow @PSSDInstitute for more info!