Symptoms: Emotional blunting, Sexual dysfunction, Anhedonia
I was prescribed Fluoxetine for OCD around age 11. I went on and off it for about 10–11 years and, in retrospect, I always experienced sexual dysfunction, but I never recognized it because I was taking the medication before and during my sexual development. For example, I masturbated using the prone style because my penis felt so numb, but I never connected that to the medication since I had no sexual baseline before taking it. I also was never able to orgasm during sex, though I assumed it was because of condoms.
Around age 22, I finally realized the medication might be contributing to the issue and decided to stop taking it. However, during COVID I moved back home, my anxiety worsened, and my parents gave me an ultimatum: either go back on the medication or move out. Even after explaining that I did not want to take it again, I eventually gave in and restarted it for a period of time. The sexual dysfunction returned, so I moved out and quit cold turkey. My sexuality initially came back slightly, but shortly afterward I experienced what felt like a “crash,” with even worse sexual dysfunction and emotional blunting.
I have dealt with these symptoms to varying degrees for more than five years. I personally believe it is inappropriate to prescribe these drugs to children so casually. I understand the desire to reduce emotional suffering in the short term, but we still do not fully understand their long-term effects on brain development and sexuality. For most of modern history, parents raised children with angst, OCD, anxiety, and melancholy without medication, so I think the fact that we now rely so heavily on medicating children reflects broader societal and parenting issues as much as anything else.