Sex, Love, and SSRIs
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Megan and Neil had always been passionate about each other. Shy and unaccustomed to dating, they met on a group outing in high school where they spent the evening flirting. Megan still remembers the feeling of excitement that washed over her the first time they held hands. From that moment on, they “spent as much time together as two kids without driver’s licenses can.”
As they entered college, they were determined to stay together. But the move away from home was hard on Megan. Painfully homesick, she spent the beginning of her freshman year feeling uprooted, anxious, and disoriented. As the semester wore on, she fell into a deep depression.
Megan went on antidepressants and almost immediately felt steadier and more able to cope. But her relationship with Neil took a turn for the worse. After a few months, her ability to reach orgasm disappeared. Even though she knew that this was likely a side effect of her medication, Megan still couldn’t shake the feeling that this was a sign of problems in the relationship. Frustrated, she began to retreat from Neil. Four years of intimacy quickly dissolved, and the couple parted ways.
Megan’s experience isn’t unusual. Doctors have been grappling with sexual dysfunction since SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors) were introduced in the 1980s. Approximately 70 percent of people taking SSRIs suffer from sexual side effects. But these drugs may also compromise the ability to feel love.
Rutgers University anthropologist Helen Fisher, for one, believes SSRIs are wreaking havoc on human courtship. SSRIs alleviate depression by upping the levels of serotonin in the brain and curbing the production of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Unfortunately, dopamine is also responsible for the feelings of elation and ecstasy that accompany falling in love. By suppressing dopamine, Fisher argues, drugs like Prozac block your ability to have these feelings, thus making it harder to fall in love and stay in love.
Can Prozac keep you from falling—and staying—in love? How SSRIs are wreaking havoc on courtship. Read more.. (article by Orli Van Mourik)
