Take a Pill, Kill Your Sex Drive? 6 Reasons Antidepressants Are Misnamed - Polidicks

[quote]Should a drug that produces sexual dysfunction for the majority of users and which doubles the risk of a suicide attempt be labeled an antidepressant [I]?[/I] No, argues a recent [I]Scientifica [/I]article, “ [URL="http://www.scientifica.com/2012/965908/"]Relabeling[/URL][URL="http://www.scientifica.com/2012/965908/"] the Medications We Call Antidepressants [/URL]." The article's authors, [URL="http://www.scientifica.com/48517041/"]David Antonuccio[/URL], psychologist at the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Nevada School of Medicine, and [URL="http://www.scientifica.com/67840316/"]David Healy [/URL], psychiatrist at the Department of Psychological Medicine, Bangor University in the UK, point out that “to call these medications antidepressants may make sense from a marketing standpoint but may be misleading from a scientific perspective.” They conclude that “it may make just as much sense to call these medications antiaphrodisiacs as antidepressants because the negative effects on libido and sexual functioning are so common.”If a greater percentage of antidepressant users suffer from sexual dysfunction than are relieved of depression, in a scientific sense, it is not silly to label the medication in terms of the condition that it affects most? And while Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft are antidepressants for some people, for other people they are suicidality inducers, agitation enhancers and mania stimulators. Antonuccio and Healy offer six reasons why Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, Lexapro and other so-called antidepressants should not be labeled antidepressants. [B]1. An Actual Antidepressant Should Not Interfere with Sexual Functioning[/B] [B]2. An Actual Antidepressant Should Not Increase Suicidal Thoughts and Attempts[/B] [B]3. An Actual Antidepressant Should Be Clearly Superior to a Placebo[/B] [B]4. An Actual Antidepressant Should Not Increase Anxiety and Agitation[/B] [B]5. An Actual Antidepressant Should Offer a Risk/Benefit Balance That Exceeds Alternatives[/B] [B]6. An Actual Antidepressant Should Not Increase Depression Chronicity[/B] [/quote] Source: [URL]http://www.alternet.org/story/156232/take_a_pill%2C_kill_your_sex_drive_6_reasons_antidepressants_are_misnamed?paging=off[/URL] The source provides more info on each point.

I'm always confused to hear how somebody on anti-depressants experiences side-effects like being easily agitated or simply more depressed. So I guess that explains it.

[url]http://www.facepunch.com/showthread.php?t=1211307[/url]

Rem, your thread's nice, but this is a news article on the results of a study. :(

My girlfriend takes prozac now. She tried to kill herself almost a year ago, and it has honestly really helped her. She isnt depressed anymore except on very rare days, and she nolonger has suicidal thoughts or cut anymore. It didnt kill her sex drive, she is in fact extremely horny a lot of the time. Some times, she can get anxious or nervous though, and he hands have a small shake to them. I guess its hit or miss with the side effects.

From what i've heard, anti-depressant medication is extremely hazardous to your health for a medication.

I take 20mg of Celexa daily which helps me greatly with my Phobias and anxiety. Trouble is I can go a month without jerking off, and the boyfriend hates that!

and this is why i stopped taking them years ago.

I wish I could take this kind of stuff, but the government are wankers and made it all prescription only. Actually maybe not, it seems they have some other really unwanted side effects.

I actually prefer decreased sex drive. I find I'm not distracted by females or ever have to deal with the frustration of chasing girls.

I was on zoloft for a few months, it seemed to have a smiling bob effect, i was jerking off like 2-4 times daily :v:

[QUOTE=Kaihong;38014064]I actually prefer decreased sex drive. I find I'm not distracted by females or ever have to deal with the frustration of chasing girls.[/QUOTE] ...deactivating procreation drive...

Lower sex drive? I'll take a crate of the stuff.

I have been taking Prozac for about a month now, and it really helped me compared to how I was before I took them. I don't experience side effects like decreased sex drive, more depression/suicidal thoughts or stuff like that. I occasionally get nauseous but it passes within an hour or less. Some people suffer from side effects, some don't. I read this article and said "no shit".

uh, i take celexa and i have none of those things

Antidepressants are horrible. I took a prescription for about a week and gave up. You couldn't cum and you'd always have a massive shit eating grin.

[QUOTE=-nesto-;38016759]Antidepressants are horrible. I took a prescription for about a week and gave up. You couldn't cum and you'd always have a massive shit eating grin.[/QUOTE] "why are you smiling" "BECAUSE I CAN'T CUM"

My girlfriend was on an SSRI of some kind and it meant that it was really hard for her to achieve orgasm. I kept thinking I was being crap in bed or that she didnt find me attractive or somehing and she'd always say it was because of her pills, but I was never convinced. But then the doctors changed her medication because it wasn't really helping her. Now we have really good sexy times all the time.

My sex drive has never even been remotely impacted by Escitrolopram (SSRI), and I only experienced side effects of anxiety for two or three weeks when I initially started taking them. What the study seems to forget is that most SSRI's are only [i]really[/i] supposed to be prescribed to severe cases of depression. Attempted suicide, constant suicidal deviation, self-harm, substance abuse, etc., not just minor cases of people feeling gray for a little longer than they're used. When you prescribe SSRI's to people with bipolar episodes or manic depression, the results are extremely noticeable and all very beneficial to their mental health. I'm not a scientist or doctor or researcher, mind you, but the way I see the issue of "Anti-depressants have the same effect as a placebo" thing is that most of the people who claim they need to take these drugs weren't depressed in the first place. You get hooked on the idea that everything about you can be fixed with a pill when it's just not necessary.

Anti-depressants will do wonders, for the right people, with the right drug. I took Citalopram for 3 months before quitting on 40mg a day when I realised it wasn't doing anything. Didn't even get withdrawal, they might as well have given me sugar pills. Never went on another course because I didn't want to play trial and error with my mind and body. I know others who owe their lives to antidepressants because they couldn't break out of the cycle far enough to believe they could be happy again. As I understand it, most anti-depressants won't give you a "huge shit eating grin" or 'turn the happy back on'. It's more of a slight emotional numbing that helps you deal with your issues more rationally.

I was a bit young to know whether or not my sex drive was being affected, but they put me on pills shortly after I lost my mom, and I remember feeling very anesthized by them. It didn't feel like I was less depressed, only more apathetic about the depression. More apathetic about everything, really. My general energy levels plummeted, and I put on a bunch of weight. Eventually I started dumping the pills in the toilet instead of taking them, because it seemed like they only made things worse. I would not use them again. It's better to get control of the causes of your depression, rather than dulling the symptoms.

[QUOTE=Fish Muffin;38013690]My girlfriend takes prozac now. She tried to kill herself almost a year ago, and it has honestly really helped her. She isnt depressed anymore except on very rare days, and she nolonger has suicidal thoughts or cut anymore. It didnt kill her sex drive, she is in fact extremely horny a lot of the time. Some times, she can get anxious or nervous though, and he hands have a small shake to them. I guess its hit or miss with the side effects.[/QUOTE] That's pretty hot, so all you need to do is give her prozac huh?

I'm on prozac, and while it's not impossible for me to get sexual pleasure it's certainly more difficult

Bah, I don't view that as a problem, It's a goddamn challenge [IMG]http://filesmelt.com/dl/rms.001.png[/IMG]

Haha I remember when I was on Prozac for 3-4 months at the age of 17 I found it very difficult to cum. I had a very Christian girlfriend at the time who refused to do anything sexual unless she was pretending she was asleep (I guess God must have been cool with that...) in which case she would jack me off through my trousers which was pretty uncomfortable as it was with all the rough trouser/boxer material rubbing against my glans. I still managed to cum a couple of times during Prozac but it was definitely easier to reach the point before I started on the pills. Ouch. I know better now :)

I'm fairly jealous of all those who have had success with antidepressants. I was diagnosed at 5 with depression and have been on and off 5 different antidepressants since then. I turned 24 in August. The one I took as a kid, resulted in me having "nightmares", but in reality, I wasn't entering a deep enough sleep and I was actually just hearing what was going on around me. I've had sleep issues with the rest of the ones I was on. I was always needing naps, and with one I took, I developed insomnia and needed a second medication just to fall asleep. Prozac was just plain hell and resulted in things being so much worse. With the rest, I tended to stop taking them because after about 6 to 8 months, they stopped working, but any attempt to raise the dose beyond the initial starting dose resulting in me overdosing. Finally, I had no interest in anything sexual, and I honestly still don't, despite being off them since early 2011. About the only good thing was Cymbalta gave me awesome ass dreams, but it was the one that required me to have the sleep meds, which sucked when I got used to the dosage of the sleep med and needed more, but my doctor wouldn't raise the dosage..Meaning I either didn't sleep or raised the dosage myself so I did sleep and run out of medicine halfway through the month.

[QUOTE=SadisticGecko;38018305]I'm fairly jealous of all those who have had success with antidepressants. I was diagnosed at 5 with depression and have been on and off 5 different antidepressants since then. I turned 24 in August. The one I took as a kid, resulted in me having "nightmares", but in reality, I wasn't entering a deep enough sleep and I was actually just hearing what was going on around me. I've had sleep issues with the rest of the ones I was on. I was always needing naps, and with one I took, I developed insomnia and needed a second medication just to fall asleep. Prozac was just plain hell and resulted in things being so much worse. With the rest, I tended to stop taking them because after about 6 to 8 months, they stopped working, but any attempt to raise the dose beyond the initial starting dose resulting in me overdosing. Finally, I had no interest in anything sexual, and I honestly still don't, despite being off them since early 2011. About the only good thing was Cymbalta gave me awesome ass dreams, but it was the one that required me to have the sleep meds, which sucked when I got used to the dosage of the sleep med and needed more, but my doctor wouldn't raise the dosage..Meaning I either didn't sleep or raised the dosage myself so I did sleep and run out of medicine halfway through the month.[/QUOTE] [quote]I was diagnosed at 5 with depression.[/quote] Who diagnoses a 5 year old with depression? How does a 5 year old become depressed? Didn't your folks give you enough lego or was it missing the little bit you use to make a cockpit for a plane or what?

[QUOTE=Rocksalt;38018350]Who diagnoses a 5 year old with depression? How does a 5 year old become depressed? Didn't your folks give you enough lego or was it missing the little bit you use to make a cockpit for a plane or what?[/QUOTE] Doctor diagnosed me and put me on anti-depressants. Both sides of my family have high instances of mental illness. On my mom's side, there were several people put in the nut house in the early 1900s, plus a suicide. On my dad's, plenty of nuts over there. My dad himself is a rapid cycling bipolar (meaning he shifts from being manic to depressed quicker than normal). On top of things, he was extremely controlling and borderline abusive. I do recall being depressed and not really understanding what was happening, but looking back at memories, I'm able to id them as such.

[QUOTE=SadisticGecko;38018416]Doctor diagnosed me and put me on anti-depressants. Both sides of my family have high instances of mental illness. On my mom's side, there were several people put in the nut house in the early 1900s, plus a suicide. On my dad's, plenty of nuts over there. My dad himself is a rapid cycling bipolar (meaning he shifts from being manic to depressed quicker than normal). On top of things, he was extremely controlling and borderline abusive. I do recall being depressed and not really understanding what was happening, but looking back at memories, I'm able to id them as such.[/QUOTE] Fair enough man, I was just wondering if you were just a ltheragic lazy kid and someone went "HERE, THIS WEAN IS HEAVY DEPRESSED MATE, GET HIM ON PROZAC!"

[QUOTE=Rocksalt;38018426]Fair enough man, I was just wondering if you were just a ltheragic lazy kid and someone went "HERE, THIS WEAN IS HEAVY DEPRESSED MATE, GET HIM ON PROZAC!"[/QUOTE] Hell no. I was actually a pretty active kid. Problem was, dad was controlling and worked the night shift. So I wasn't allowed to act like a kid. I had to sit in my room and quietly play with my toys.