PSSD or untreated depression

[Rem346]

Quick question. I wonder if the symptoms people are experiencing are just symptoms of untreated depression or underlying cause. If you think about it, it sounds impossible that pssd could be a thing m, especially this long lasting. How do you make a distinction between untreated depression and pssd? My core symptom is anhedonia, lack of energy and focus (attention), inability to get aroused, genital numbness, inability to get a decent erection despite having morning wood, can’t connect with others. Maybe some of it is untreated depression? How can we be certain.
How is it that pssd can last such a long time? Is time really the biggest healer?

[sovietxrobot]

This is what every psychiatrist will tell you, "theres no such thing as PSSD, its untreated depression." PSSD is dramatically different. Its not 'diminished interest in sex', its total loss of ability to feel attraction. Its not 'loss of interest in usual activities', its brain fog and anhedonia that are disabling. And the timeline, its all of these extreme new symptoms directly are SSRI withdrawal.

[Kk88]

I have had pssd for 10 years. in that time been in the strongest love and had some of the best/happiest times of my life, with no remission of symptoms. Pre-PSSD I also had about 4 months of severe depression, where my sex life was completely unaffected. 2 days into pills I got PSSD.

Maybe one person here or there has a low sex drive as a result of depression and things it's PSSD, but that is very different to sudden and complete genital numbess and lack of pleasure.

[Delfador]

You say pssd can't be real because it lasts so long. But let me ask you: where in the world do you see depressions that last continuously for 5 or 10 years? Depression by definition lifts after a few weeks or months. Pssd doesn't.

Also: depression can be cured by antidepressants, pssd can't.

And finally, some of us were horny as hell when we were actually depressed. And now, we can't even feel depression or emotional pain because pssd blunts our emotions.

[arahant]

Quick question. I wonder if the symptoms people are experiencing are just symptoms of untreated depression or underlying cause. If you think about it, it sounds impossible that pssd could be a thing m, especially this long lasting. How do you make a distinction between untreated depression and pssd? My core symptom is anhedonia, lack of energy and focus (attention), inability to get aroused, genital numbness, inability to get a decent erection despite having morning wood, can’t connect with others. Maybe some of it is untreated depression? How can we be certain.
How is it that pssd can last such a long time? Is time really the biggest healer?

That's a very difficult question. But just as a thought, imagine if someone had depression diagnose before taking drugs and actually never treat it. But instead, ended spending years taking tons of supplements, combos, and obscure neuro-bulshit "targeting" down/up/receptor regulation, also changing "combos" every other month, can it be considered a treatment? I think someone can spend a lot of time untreating his depression like that...

[GIXXER]

No its not untreated depression. Thats psycho babble that they use to gaslight or try to tell us what were feeling isnt real, that antidepressants are safe with few side effects.

[Dubya_B]

It's concerning that the purported relationship between depression and sexual dysfunction may be due to medication people with depression commonly take. Especially when up to 60% have reported some degree of sexual dysfunction in studies that bothered to actively screen for it as a side effect. Can anyone here say that SSRIs aren't better at causing sexual dysfunction than they are at treating depression according to placebo-controlled trials?

As a post-Accutane victim, there was a noticeable decrease in libido, sexual function, and mood within a couple weeks after starting. Of course, the permanent side-effects I experienced from a drug meant to permanently cure acne are impossible according to dermatology logic.

So, I saw a family physician about ED and she insisted it could be nothing else but depression and prescribed an SSRI with an assurance that the sexual-side effects they talk about on the TV ads are just a coincidence of depression. I began taking the SSRI regularly and my partial post-Accutane anorgasmia became complete, with complete ED following soon after. Both returned at least close to post-Accutane baseline months after I stopped taking the SSRI.

Sexual dysfunction, anhedonia, loss of ability to feel actual depression about anything because of blunted emotions, all a big coincidence.

[Sascha100]

I think that there are actually a lot of people that have untreated depression, hypochondriac thinking and other stuff going on. But I also believe that some people actually experience PSSD. For most, its probably a combination of both.
I have always wondered why most studies done on PSSD only mention the sexual dysfunction after PSSD though.

[sylv]

Beacuse you use wrong wording. In real PSSD there is no anhedonia, which is depression symptom but there is emotional blunting. Anhedonia is isolated symptom, while blunting is general

The people with emotional PSSD are less able to feel depression, OCD, situational Anxiety in fact

[Rem346]

Well there is something called dysthymia, which is persistent depressive disorder which can last for years. And my symptom is anhedonia, lack of energy (is this a symptom of pssd?), low motivation and am just overall negative. Not sure if pssd if the cause of this