RESEARCH PAPER
Psychological and sexual functioning of persons suffering from post-SSRI sexual dysfunction – cases study
 
More details
Hide details
1
Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
 
2
Institute of Psychology, University of Zielona Góra, Zielona Góra, Poland
 
These authors had equal contribution to this work
 
 
Submission date: 2023-10-25
 
 
Final revision date: 2024-08-30
 
 
Acceptance date: 2024-09-12
 
 
Online publication date: 2024-10-22
 
 
Corresponding author
Kacper Gargul   

Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk, Gdansk, Poland
 
 
 
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Background:
Post-SSRI syndrome is a condition following the discontinuation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) where, despite ceasing to take the pharmacological agents, the effects persist – and they may develop upon drug initiation. While most research has focused on identifying and classifying the main somatic symptoms, the psychological consequences of post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) syndrome are insufficiently explored.

Participants and procedure:
The report presents descriptions of two cases of PSSD, as well as two contrasting cases in which the effects of taking SSRI drugs seem to have had a positive impact on the mental and sexual sphere.

Results:
The results of the study indicate a wide range of sexual side effects of taking SSRI drugs. The four cases discussed are evi-dence, on the one hand, of the frequent occurrence of side effects in the form of sexual disorders that may persist without a guarantee of return to previous sexual performance. On the other hand, the presented cases show, in some situations, a positive increase in human sexual functioning.

Conclusions:
The study provides new information on the discussed issue and at the same time highlights the still insufficient scientific knowledge on this topic. In light of the present results, further systematic research is needed to explore the pathogenesis of the syndrome and develop effective interventions and treatments. Subsequent research should take into account, in particu-lar, clinical trials.

 
REFERENCES (16)
1.
Bala, A., Nguyen, H. M. T., & Hellstrom, W. J. (2018). Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: a literature review. Sexual Medicine Reviews, 6, 29–34. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr....
 
2.
Ben-Sheetrit, J., Aizenberg, D., Csoka, A. B., Weizman, A., & Hermesh, H. (2015). Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: Clinical characterisation and preliminary assessment of contributory factors and dose-response relationship. Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology, 35, 273–278. https://doi.org/10.1097/JCP.00....
 
3.
Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/147808....
 
4.
Cysarz, D. (2019). Wybrane modele pracy terapeutycznej z psychogennymi zaburzeniami erekcji [Selected mod-els of therapeutic work with psychogenic erectile dysfunction]. In M. Rawińska (Ed.), Zaburzenia seksualne a psychoterapia poznawczo-behawioralna [Sexual disorders and cognitive-behavioral psychotherapy] (pp. 259–276). PZWL Wydawnictwo Lekarskie.
 
5.
Ekhart, G. C., & van Puijenbroek, E. P. (2014). Does sexual dysfunction persist upon discontinuation of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors? Tijdschrift voor Psychiatrie, 56, 336–340.
 
6.
Healy, D. (2018). Citizen petition: Sexual side effects of SSRIs and SNRIs. International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 29, 135–147. https://doi.org/10.3233/JRS-18....
 
7.
Healy, D., Bahrick, A., Bak, M., Barbato, A., Calabrò, R. S., Chubak, B. M., Cosci, F., Csoka, A. B., D’Avanzo, B., Diviccaro, S., Giatti, S., Goldstein, I., Graf, H., Hellstrom, W. J. G., Irwig, M. S., Jannini, E. A., Janssen, P. K. C., Khera, M., Kumar, M. T., Le Noury, J., … Waraich, A. (2022). Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunc-tion after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin. International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 33, 65–76. https://doi.org/10.3233/JRS-21....
 
8.
Hogan, C., Le Noury, J., Healy, D., & Mangin, D. (2014). One hundred and twenty cases of enduring sexual dys-function following treatment. International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 26, 109–116. https://doi.org/10.3233/JRS-14....
 
9.
Jakima, S. (2019). Dysfunkcje seksualne. Poradnik dla lekarzy [Sexual dysfunction. A guide for doctors]. PZWL Wydawnictwo Lekarskie.
 
10.
Jakima, S., & Rawińska, M. (2019). Farmakoterapia w seksuologii [Pharmacotherapy in sexology]. In M. Rawińska (Ed.), Zaburzenia seksualne a psychoterapia poznawczo-behawioralna [Sexual disorders and cogni-tive-behavioral psychotherapy] (pp. 37–44). PZWL Wydawnictwo Lekarskie.
 
11.
Klaas, S., Siva, J. B., Bak, M., Govers, M., & Schreiber, R. (2023). The pathophysiology of post SSRI sexual dys-function – lessons from a case study. Biomedicine & Pharmacotherapy, 161, 114166. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biop....
 
12.
Pukall, C. (2023). Post-SSRI/SNRI sexual dysfunction: a review. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 20, qdad068-019. https://doi.org/10.1093/jsxmed....
 
13.
Reisman, Y. (2017). Sexual consequences of post-SSRI syndrome. Sexual Medicine Reviews, 5, 429–433. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sxmr....
 
14.
Studt, A., Gannon, M., Orzel, J., Vaughan, A., & Pearlman, A. M. (2021). Characterizing post-SSRI sexual dysfunc-tion and its impact on quality of life through an international online survey. International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 32, 321–329. https://doi.org/10.3233/JRS-21....
 
15.
Waraich, A., Yih, J., Goldstein, S., & Goldstein, I. (2021). Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD): Ten year retrospec-tive chart review. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 18, S41. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jsxm....
 
16.
Zakliczyńska, H. (2019). Zaburzenia orgazmu u mężczyzn [Orgasmic disorders in men]. In M. Rawińska (Ed.), Zaburzenia seksualne a psychoterapia poznawczo-behawioralna [Sexual disorders and cognitive-behavioral psy-chotherapy] (pp. 231–244). PZWL Wydawnictwo Lekarskie.
 
Copyright: © Institute of Psychology, University of Gdansk This is an Open Access journal, all articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/), allowing third parties to copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format and to remix, transform, and build upon the material, provided the original work is properly cited and states its license.
eISSN:2353-561X
ISSN:2353-4192
Journals System - logo
Scroll to top