Does PSSD go away? What recovery looks like
Does PSSD go away on its own? What seems to help, what can make it worse, and what you can do now.
For many, it eases. Many people with post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) improve over time, and many see the most change in the first year or two. For others it lasts for years after stopping. Nobody can yet promise full recovery, or say who will get it.
If you are living with it now, you are not imagining it. The UK leaflet for Cipralex (escitalopram) says sexual problems have, in some cases, “continued after stopping treatment”.
Here is what recovery looks like, how long it can take, and what may help or make it worse.
Does PSSD go away on its own?
For some people it eases, partly or fully, and for others it has lasted years. The PSSD Network, a patient-led charity, says: “many people do improve over time.” It adds that why some recover and others don’t “is still unknown.”
PSSD is more than sexual problems. The criteria proposed by an international panel in 2022 put a lasting change in genital sensation at the core, often numbness, and also list “emotional numbing”, “cognitive impairment” and changes in other senses. People often say one part eases before another.
Nobody knows yet who will be affected, or whether it will ease.
Daryl was given a new timeline each time he asked. First a few weeks, he says, then a few months, then a year or more. Watch this 30-second extract if you’ve been told “it’ll settle” and it hasn’t.
When he gave the interview, it had been 13 years. His story isn’t a forecast for you. It shows why a fixed date from anyone is a guess.
How long does recovery take?
Nobody has measured it. The PSSD Network says that “for many people within the first 1–2 years, improvement can and does occur.” It also says that not recovering in that time “does not mean it’s impossible.”
The first months are often the hardest. Symptoms can feel constant, and every bad day can feel like proof that nothing will change.
Change, when it comes, is usually slow and uneven. Good weeks and bad weeks are common in what people describe. Track each symptom on its own: “touch feels a bit less numb” counts, even if desire hasn’t changed. A short note each week, one line per symptom, makes slow change easier to see.
What helps, and what can make it worse?
Nothing is proven. The PSSD Network says nothing has yet been shown to reverse PSSD. It strongly advises against trying medicines or supplements on your own, because of “the potential risk of causing worsening of your existing symptoms.”
Stories of a cure online are hard to ignore when you’re desperate. None has been shown to work. Before you try anything, talk it through with a doctor, and tell them about PSSD first.
The same goes for your current medicine. Stopping suddenly can cause withdrawal, and the Cipralex leaflet warns about stopping “abruptly”.
Looking after your body and your sleep won’t cure PSSD, but it can make the waiting easier. Our guides cover gentle steps with exercise and diet and sleep after a PSSD crash.
Other people help too. Talking to someone who has been through the first year can take the edge off the fear. Our WhatsApp peer support groups are run by people affected.
In this short video, Professor Joanna Moncrieff, a psychiatrist at UCL, talks about PSSD and how aware doctors are of it. It’s background for your GP appointment, not evidence about recovery.
What can I do now?
These medicines help many people. If you have side effects, that’s a decision for you and your prescriber. Don’t stop suddenly.
Three questions for your GP
- Could anything else explain these symptoms?
- How will we record this, so we can see if it changes?
- Before I try any treatment, what could make it worse?
You could start with: “Since stopping sertraline in March 2024, touch feels numb and I feel flat. The leaflet says this can continue.”
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.
- Use the right words. If symptoms continued after stopping, write Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (MedDRA 10086208).
Our reporting guide walks you through it
If you improve later, that’s worth recording too. Research needs to know who recovers, not only who doesn’t.
What else do people ask?
Is PSSD permanent? Nobody can say that as a general rule. For some people it has lasted years, and some people improve after a long time. The PSSD Network says not recovering in the first two years “does not mean it’s impossible.”
Will taking the antidepressant again fix it? Nobody has shown that it does. It’s a decision for you and your prescriber, made with the leaflet and your history in front of you.
Is anyone researching recovery? Researchers are studying PSSD, but nothing has yet been shown to reverse it. Reports from people who improve help show what recovery looks like.
If you’re new to this, start with one thing this week: write down each symptom and how it is today. Then read our PSSD page.
Sources
- Lundbeck Limited. Cipralex (escitalopram) patient information leaflet, electronic Medicines Compendium, UK. Section 2: sexual symptoms “have continued after stopping treatment” in some cases. Section 3: discontinuation symptoms when stopping, “especially if it is abruptly”.
- 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. Proposed criteria. Section 3: enduring change in genital sensation; ancillary symptoms include “emotional numbing”, “cognitive impairment” and “other sensory problems involving skin, smell, taste or vision”.
- PSSD Network. Frequently asked questions. Patient-led organisation, not a study. On improvement in the first 1 to 2 years, unknown recovery rates, the lack of a proven way to reverse it and the risks of self-experimentation.
- GOV.UK. Report a problem with a medicine or medical device.
- Moral Medicine, 13 Years of Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD), October 2024. Extract 8:56 to 9:26.
- PSSD Network, Professor Joanna Moncrieff discusses Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, June 2026. General context.
Sources checked on 22 October 2026. AI-assisted writing and review, not clinical review.
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