Emotional numbness after Accutane

Some people say Accutane (isotretinoin, sold in the UK as Roaccutane) left their feelings flat: little joy or sadness, and nothing that quite lands. For some it continued after stopping, and it’s one of the symptoms people describe in post-Accutane syndrome, or PAS.

PAS isn’t only about sex, even though the 2022 criteria are built around its sexual form. The 2022 criteria say depression and problems with thinking can come with it, or happen on their own.

The UK leaflet says some side effects “may continue after treatment has stopped”. It never names emotional numbness, so the link is easy to miss, for you and for your doctor.

Joseph took isotretinoin for acne at 13. His problems began months after the course ended, he says. In this short extract, he describes what flat feelings are like from the inside.

Play video: Joseph on feeling joy only halfway after isotretinoin (extract)

He remembers moments of real happiness from before, moments he called “just incredible”. Now it’s different. “I feel things,” he says. “I can feel moments of pleasure, but only halfway.”

Can Accutane make you feel emotionally numb?

People report it, though the official texts don’t use that word. The UK leaflet lists “depression or related disorders”, with signs that “include sad or altered mood, anxiety, feelings of emotional discomfort”.

The US Medication Guide comes closer. Among the signs to tell a doctor about right away, it lists when you “lose interest in activities you once enjoyed” or “withdraw from your friends or family”.

One research team collected 300 reports from people whose sexual problems lasted after a medicine. Of those who had taken isotretinoin, about 1 in 10 also described emotional blunting. People chose to send these reports to a drug-safety website, so they can’t show how often it happens.

Can it last after stopping Accutane?

For some people it has lasted years after stopping. Nobody knows yet who will be affected, or whether it will ease.

For mental health problems, the UK leaflet warns that stopping “may not be enough to stop the effects”. The 2022 criteria list depression, suicidality and problems with thinking among lasting effects after isotretinoin. Emotional numbing isn’t on that list, though it is on their list for PSSD, the similar condition after antidepressants.

Elliot took Roaccutane at 17. He came out of the course feeling that “something very strange has just happened”, he says. It didn’t lift. At 23 or 24, he realised how many years had passed. “I still haven’t had an emotion land.” Relationships ended, he says, because he couldn’t feel connected.

Did Accutane change my personality?

You may be the last to notice. “You may not notice some changes in your mood and behaviour,” the UK leaflet says, and it asks you to tell friends and family that you’re taking it. On the outside, Elliot says, he looked fine to people.

“Personality change” is a hard phrase for a doctor to work with. UK experts who reviewed isotretinoin in 2023 noted that words like “personality changes” and “mood swings” can describe a low or a high. Plain examples help more: “sad news doesn’t touch me”, “music does nothing for me”.

In this extract, Elliot explains why he believes it was the drug, and why the line was blurry for him.

Play video: Elliot on feeling anaesthetised after Roaccutane (extract)

In his twenties, Elliot says, he felt confused and detached, “like I’d been anaesthetised”. He was anxious before the medicine and had small spells of feeling detached. In his heart, he says, he knew it came from the drug.

What can I do?

This medicine helps many people. If you have side effects, that’s a decision for you and your prescriber. The UK leaflet says to contact your doctor straight away if you get signs of the mental problems it lists.

Write it down before you see your GP:

1. Your medicine: “Isotretinoin 40 mg a day from March 2022, last capsule September 2022.”
2. What changed: “I can’t cry any more”, “good news doesn’t feel good”.
3. When it started: before, during the course, or after it.
4. How you were before: “I felt things strongly before 2022.”
5. What others noticed: ask someone close to you.

Many people say it took time to be taken seriously. You can report it without a doctor agreeing.

Report it: it helps everyone

A doctor’s note helps you. A report to the medicines regulator helps everyone else: it is how patterns get noticed.

• No proof needed. A suspicion is enough, even years after stopping.
• Where: the Yellow Card scheme in the UK, MedWatch in the US. There’s more in how to report isotretinoin side effects.
• Use the right words. PAS has no official MedDRA term yet. Write “emotional numbness”, say when it began, and say that it continued after stopping.

Our reporting guide walks you through it

What else do people ask?

Is it depression, or the medicine? It can be hard to tell. Depression can take the enjoyment out of life, and acne itself can weigh on mood. Timing is a clue: did it start before the course, during it, or after? Accutane and depression after stopping goes through the leaflet’s warnings.

Is it the same as emotional blunting on antidepressants? People use very similar words for both. Antidepressants have more research behind them, and the NHS lists feeling emotionally numb as a common side effect. Emotional blunting on antidepressants covers it, and emotional numbness and medicines compares the causes.

Does it go away? Some people say it has eased. Joseph says his symptoms have improved with time and support, though it isn’t a cure. Elliot still felt flat years on. Does post-Accutane syndrome go away? has what’s known, and our page on post-Accutane syndrome has more.

Joseph still remembers how those incredible moments felt. If your own feelings have gone quiet since a course of isotretinoin, you can report it, even years on.

Sources

1. Roaccutane (isotretinoin) 10 mg and 20 mg soft capsules, patient leaflet, Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC 100633), last revised April 2026, read on 21 October 2026 and checked again on 22 October 2026. Section 2, “Mental health problems”: “You may not notice some changes in your mood and behaviour and so it is very important that you tell your friends and family that you are taking this medicine”. It adds that they “may notice these changes”. Section 4: “The side effects are generally reversible after changing the dose or stopping treatment, however some may continue after treatment has stopped.” Section 4, “Mental problems”, frequency not known: “Depression or related disorders. Signs of this include sad or altered mood, anxiety, feelings of emotional discomfort”. “Contact your doctor straight away if you get signs of any of these mental problems. Your doctor may tell you to stop taking Roaccutane. That may not be enough to stop the effects: you may need more help, and your doctor can arrange this”. As of October 2026, the leaflet does not mention emotional numbness, blunting or anhedonia.
2. Absorica and Absorica LD (isotretinoin), US prescribing information and Medication Guide, DailyMed, revised August 2026. Medication Guide, signs and symptoms of depression or psychosis to tell a healthcare provider about right away include “lose interest in activities you once enjoyed” and “withdraw from your friends or family”. Section 5.4: “Discontinuation of ABSORICA/ABSORICA LD may be insufficient”. Section 6 lists “emotional instability” among psychiatric adverse reactions. The label does not use the words emotional numbness or blunting.
3. Healy D, Bahrick A, Bak M and colleagues. Diagnostic criteria for enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, finasteride and isotretinoin. Int J Risk Saf Med 2022;33(1):65-76. An expert consensus. The sexual form after isotretinoin is named post-retinoid sexual dysfunction (PRSD). Effects of isotretinoin that “can occur independently of any sexual difficulties but may also accompany sexual problems”: cognitive impairment, skin changes, joint changes, bowel changes, depression, suicidality. Emotional numbing is not on this list. For PSSD, the ancillary non-sexual symptoms listed include “emotional numbing” and “depersonalization”. The paper adds: “Emotional and genital numbing commonly go together”. Abstract: “Ancillary non-sexual symptoms vary depending on the specific condition but can include emotional blunting and cognitive impairment”. The paper says the term post-Accutane syndrome “is in widespread use and often refers to what is termed PRSD here”, and also appears to cover cognitive effects without sexual difficulties. “The incidence of these conditions is unknown.” We read the full text on 21 October 2026.
4. Healy D, Le Noury J, Mangin D. Enduring sexual dysfunction after treatment with antidepressants, 5α-reductase inhibitors and isotretinoin: 300 cases. Int J Risk Saf Med 2018;29(3-4):125-134. Read in full through Europe PMC. Reports sent to RxISK.org, a drug safety website set up by the authors and colleagues. Table 3a (men): emotional blunting in 5 of 49 after isotretinoin. Table 3b (women): 0 of 5 after isotretinoin. That is 5 of 54 people, about 1 in 10. Everyone in the study had lasting sexual problems and chose to report them, and there was no comparison group, so the figures count what people described and cannot give a rate.
5. Commission on Human Medicines, Report of the Isotretinoin Expert Working Group, 26 April 2023, published by the MHRA. Section 4 describes a 2018 review of the literature by Truitt, and notes “the use of vague terminology such as: personality changes, mood swings, and psychological changes”. “These ambiguous terms can describe either mood elevation or depression”. The report also notes the psychological burden of acne itself. It does not list emotional numbness or blunting as a side effect.
6. NHS, Isotretinoin (Roaccutane), page last reviewed 26 June 2026. Serious side effects include “mental health problems including hallucinations, psychosis, or thoughts of suicide or self-harm”. As of October 2026, the page does not mention emotional numbness. NHS, Antidepressants: common side effects include “mood changes – like feeling more angry or emotionally numb”.
7. Moral Medicine, French Patient Shares His Long-Term Struggle After Accutane (isotretinoin), Joseph’s interview, November 2025, in French, embedded here as an extract from 13:22 to 14:04. Our translation from the French auto-captions. “Not feeling joy and the positive moments any more” (13:24 to 13:30). Memories of “happiness and fullness” that are now very hard to feel (13:38 to 13:46). “At that moment, wow, it was just incredible” (about 13:50). “Now I feel things, I can feel moments of pleasure, but only halfway” (13:53 to 13:58). His age when he took it, that his symptoms began months after the course, and his improvement are from his story page. He mentions suicidal thoughts elsewhere in the film, with no method.
8. Moral Medicine, He Took Accutane at 17. His Life Never Returned to Normal., Elliot’s interview, 28 January 2025, embedded here as an extract from 1:05:13 to 1:06:19. From the YouTube auto-captions: Accutane at 17 (3:45). “Everything just felt very numb and dry” (47:48), said of dryness and his sense of smell during the course, so not used here as emotional numbness. “Something very strange has just happened” (1:04:34 to 1:04:54). “Just felt like I’d been anesthetized” (1:05:43). “I knew in my heart, yeah, that it was from the drug” (1:05:52). Anxious before the drug, with “really small spouts of dissociation” (1:05:57 to 1:06:03); “it was more blurry for me” (1:06:12). “Like 23 or 24 realizing… And I still haven’t had an emotion land” (1:14:48 to 1:15:00), inside one unbroken first-person account (1:14:17 to 1:16:25) in which the interviewer says only “Yeah” or “Mhm”. “Relationships that came to an end because of not being able to feel connected” (1:15:12 to 1:15:16). “On the outside looked fine… it looked fine to people” (1:15:40 to 1:15:46). His story on our site: Elliot’s story.
9. GOV.UK. Report a problem with a medicine or medical device.

Sources checked on 22 October 2026. AI-assisted writing and review, not clinical review.