Antidepressant medications of the class known as SSRIs (Serotonin Specific Reuptake Inhibitors) are commonly used to lift people suffering anxiety and depression out of under a dark emotional cloud.
However, unwelcome side effects can be losing interest in sex, and finding it hard to stimulate arousal or to reach climax. As we age, these effects become more common.
Many people with untreated depression experience these symptoms too, so not all sexual problems experienced by people with depression are 100% due to antidepressant medications.
Why do antidepressants decrease libido?
The physical arousal and orgasmic response we experience is, actually, “sexual chemistry”.
Getting turned on and stimulated to the point of orgasm involves release of love chemicals in the brain. Feel good molecules including her oxytocin, serotonin, and endorphins while other molecules that make us horny and affect how we feel pleasure include testosterone and dopamine.
Calling arousal “getting turned on” is actually biologically accurate, inferring that this happens from a neutral baseline state. SSRI medications prevent re-uptake of serotonin, meaning more of this molecule is around in our brain neurosynapses involved in arousal all the time. This means they don’t get to “turn off” and ultimately become desensitised. In short, it then takes a much bigger neuro-electric stimulus to get really turned on.
So if you have noticed a loss of sexual drive and desire while using antidepressant medications, you are definitely not alone.
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