Pressley Grzybowski
Viewpoints Editor
One in six women take antidepressants in the United States. However, the side effect that impacts over half of women who take these medications will never be brought up to 80% of them. Sexual dysfunction is one of the most common side effects of antidepressant medication, but patients, especially women, often remain in the dark when it comes to their orgasm troubles. Women are also twice as likely than men to be diagnosed with depression, although the reasoning is still unknown.
Antidepressants, especially those that directly impact serotonin levels, are known to impact sexual activity in both biologically male and female patients in over 40% of cases. From desire and arousal to orgasms and ejaculation, one’s daily antidepressant could put a wrench in Friday night plans.
Women are more likely to experience vaginal changes such as dryness and thinning of the inner lining, which in turn causes the vaginal canal to be more fragile and prone to pain, irritation, or even injury before, during and after sex. In more severe cases, women can experience a change in their urethral shape and density, causing painful symptoms similar to a bladder infection.
Around 80% of women report an inability or difficulty to become aroused or feel any desire toward their sexual partner due to their antidepressant use. Even if sex does occur, it is very difficult for those on antidepressants to experience sexual stimulation or have an orgasm.
Additionally, despite the high percentage of women suffering from these effects, only 35% will ever express their sexual concerns to their providers. This is no fault of the patients, as the medical world has done little-to-no work to reduce the stigma surrounding female sexual health and pleasure.
Most of the time, ‘sex’ is equivocated with intimacy, misrepresenting the idea that intimacy between a man and a woman consists only of penetration, which can be pleasurable for a man, but from which only a quarter of women can actually orgasm.
For a woman to admit that she pleasures herself or that pleasure is important to her is taboo, as according to feminist theory it disregards the procreative function and duty toward male pleasure that society has given her. Perhaps this plays a large role in the hesitancy of both physician and patient to discuss things like vaginal lubrication and orgasms during appointments.
Unfortunately, even for those women who do take the step to discuss their sexual concerns regarding antidepressant use with their provider, treatment and management options once again are male-centered and under-researched.
Hesitancy is also reinforced by the perpetuation of misogynistic and negative sexual ideals, like those found in the words of Dr. William Petok (Ph.D.), a professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Thomas Jefferson University. In an interview regarding the adverse impacts of antidepressant medication on pleasure, Petok says, “Hollywood conveys the message that sex will always be fabulous for both parties, but in real life, that takes place only a small percentage of the time and instead, sex is ‘good enough’ for one or other partner and people are satisfied with a ‘good enough’ sexual relationship most of the time.”
Three other scholars share a similar mindset to Petok’s in another article. In a publication by Tierney Lorenz, Jordan Rullo and Stephanie Faubion, (three feminine-identifying scholars with particular expertise in women’s health), many women accept their sexual function “as-is” by “emphasizing the benefits of the antidepressants over the consequences, attending to the positives in their relationship with their partner and changing [their] sexual expectations.”
The publication states that a useful ‘therapeutic’ option for women suffering from antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction is to simply accept the fact that they are suffering and to change their sexual expectations. It is a commonly known fact that men in the medical field have been perpetuating stigma and negativity surrounding feminine pleasure and sexual health, but for three female or feminine-adjacent identifying individuals to push this harmful attitude onto women is a more dangerous situation in itself, bringing into question how women can receive proper support in the medical field.
