Elliot Bewick

“I’m 23 years old… and my clitoris is completely numb, like the back of my elbow. I can’t orgasm. I can’t feel love for my own mother. I can’t even enjoy music anymore.” That was Laureen Friedman’s raw testimony at a recent Safety Advocates on Mental Health Care panel. She lives with PSSD — Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction. After taking Zoloft, she woke up one day with total genital numbness, zero libido, permanent inability to orgasm, and a sudden emotional numbness she describes as “chemical castration” and an “emotional lobotomy.” What used to be a deeply emotional, empathetic, songwriting young woman now feels disconnected from the core human experiences of love and pleasure. She says she was never warned this could happen even after stopping the drug. Millions are prescribed SSRIs every year, often without being told about rare but potentially permanent side effects like PSSD. People deserve full informed consent about what they’re risking. Have you or anyone you know experienced lasting sexual or emotional side effects from antidepressants?