Lexapro emotional numbness: can it last?
Lexapro (escitalopram) can flatten feelings as well as sex drive. For some it has continued after stopping, and it's a recognised PSSD symptom.
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Lexapro (escitalopram) can flatten your feelings as well as your sex drive: less worry, but less joy and love too. For some people the numbness has continued after stopping, and it’s one of the recognised symptoms of post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, or PSSD.
PSSD is more than a sexual problem, despite its name. The 2022 diagnostic criteria describe a lasting change in genital sensation, often numbness, and add emotional numbing, problems with thinking and changes in other senses.
Cipralex is Lexapro’s UK name. Its UK leaflet doesn’t mention emotional numbness, but it does warn that sexual problems have, in some cases, “continued after stopping treatment”.
The story in 3 lines
- The UK escitalopram leaflet doesn't list emotional numbness, but warns that sexual problems have sometimes continued after stopping (leaflet).
- Healthy volunteers given escitalopram for about four weeks were less swayed by rewards and losses than those on a dummy pill (2023 study).
- The 2022 criteria for PSSD say its “ancillary non-sexual symptoms may include” emotional numbing. Nobody has measured how often (criteria).
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Rosie was 20 when a psychiatrist prescribed her Lexapro, in August 2020. Within weeks her anxiety had gone, and so had almost everything else. “I thought that was good,” she says. She took her last tablet that December. In this extract, recorded more than three years later, she explains what feeling nothing is like.
She calls it “waking up completely colourblind”: she can still see, but there’s no colour. She struggles to feel any emotion, or to cry.
Can Lexapro make you feel emotionally numb?
Yes. The NHS lists feeling “emotionally numb” among the common side effects of antidepressants.
The Cipralex leaflet doesn’t use those words. Its nearest line is “depersonalisation”, feeling cut off from yourself, which it lists as rare. The NHS escitalopram page doesn’t mention numbness either.
Amanda, a nurse in the US, took Lexapro for about six years. Watch the next extract for the moment she realised how much she’d lost: it only became clear as she came off it.
“My senses were all, like, numbed for years,” she says, “but I didn’t know until I started to come off that they were so numb.”
Does escitalopram cause emotional blunting?
One study points that way. Researchers in Cambridge and Copenhagen gave 66 people without depression either escitalopram or a dummy pill, for about four weeks.
Then the volunteers did computer tasks where choices could win or lose. On the drug, winning and losing steered their choices less. Memory, attention and other thinking tests showed no difference.
The authors say this lower sensitivity to winning and losing may reflect the blunting patients describe. The volunteers on escitalopram also reported more trouble reaching orgasm.
It tested healthy volunteers, not patients. A week after the capsules stopped, the two groups answered questionnaires the same way, and nobody was followed for longer. So it says nothing about whether numbness lasts.
Can Lexapro emotional numbness last after stopping?
For some people it has lasted years after stopping. Nobody knows yet who will be affected, or whether it will ease.
The 2022 diagnostic criteria for PSSD, proposed by an international group of doctors and researchers, say PSSD’s “ancillary non-sexual symptoms may include: emotional numbing”. They add: “Emotional and genital numbing commonly go together.” One of their tests is whether problems are still there three months after the last dose.
The UK leaflet already warns that Lexapro’s sexual side effects have sometimes continued after stopping.
Rosie and Lexapro
Coming off an antidepressant can cause numbness for a while too, the NHS says. PSSD or withdrawal? explains the difference. Stephen’s story describes emotional blunting that came on after a short course of escitalopram ended.
What can I tell my GP?
These medicines help many people. If you have side effects, that’s a decision for you and your prescriber. Don’t stop suddenly.
Describe the numbness in your own words, such as “I can’t cry any more” or “music does nothing for me”. Give your dates: “Escitalopram 10 mg from March 2023, last tablet January 2024.” Say whether it began before, during or after the tablets.
Three questions for your GP
- Could this numbness be a side effect of escitalopram?
- How can we tell it apart from depression or withdrawal?
- What happens next if it doesn't lift?
You could start with: “Since taking escitalopram, I feel flat, even about things I used to love.”
Feeling numb for a long time can be very hard. If you ever think about ending your life, Samaritans are free on 116 123 in the UK and Ireland, day or night.
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. Write “emotional numbness” and when it began. If symptoms continued after stopping, write Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (MedDRA 10086208).
Our reporting guide walks you through it
What else do people ask?
Is Cipralex the same as Lexapro? Yes. Both are escitalopram. Lexapro is the US name; Cipralex is the name in the UK and much of Europe. If you feel nothing on Cipralex, everything on this page applies.
Can Lexapro stop you crying? Some people say so. In interviews by Oxford researchers with people who’d taken SSRIs, some couldn’t cry when they felt they should. Rosie says she struggles to cry, years after her last tablet.
Is it the depression or the Lexapro? It can be either, or both, so the two are easy to mix up. The volunteers in the escitalopram study weren’t depressed, and their response to winning and losing still changed on the drug. Timing is the other clue. Our article on emotional blunting on antidepressants covers the wider research.
Rosie thought feeling muted meant the medicine was working. If your feelings went flat on Lexapro and haven’t come back, write down when it began and report it. Read more about PSSD.
Sources
- Cipralex 5 mg, 10 mg and 20 mg film-coated tablets, patient information leaflet, Electronic Medicines Compendium (EMC 7718), last revised May 2025. Section 2 says SSRIs/SNRIs “may cause symptoms of sexual dysfunction… In some cases, these symptoms have continued after stopping treatment.” Section 4 lists “Aggression, depersonalisation, hallucination” as rare (up to 1 in 1,000 people). Checked 21 and 22 October 2026: the leaflet does not mention emotional numbness, blunting or apathy. The summary of product characteristics (text revised May 2025) lists depersonalisation as rare in section 4.8 and does not mention emotional blunting either.
- NHS, Antidepressants, page last reviewed 12 June 2025. Common side effects include “mood changes – like feeling more angry or emotionally numb”; withdrawal symptoms include “feeling low, suicidal, emotionally numb or like things are not real”. NHS, Escitalopram, page last reviewed 18 June 2026: common side effects include “sexual problems, such as low sex drive”; no mention of emotional numbness.
- Langley C, Armand S, Luo Q and colleagues. Chronic escitalopram in healthy volunteers has specific effects on reinforcement sensitivity: a double-blind, placebo-controlled semi-randomised study. Neuropsychopharmacology 2023;48(4):664-70. Read in full. University of Copenhagen, May 2020 to October 2021; 66 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 45, escitalopram 20 mg (32) or placebo (34) for at least 21 days (mean 26). Escitalopram reduced reinforcement sensitivity; no significant group differences on the “cold” cognitive tests (attention, memory, cognitive flexibility, response inhibition) or other “hot” measures. Change scores on the CSFQ-14 showed more orgasm dysfunction on escitalopram. The authors say lower reinforcement sensitivity “may reflect the ‘blunting’ effect” reported by patients, and that a link to sexual dysfunction through reduced pleasure is “speculative”. A subset of questionnaires was repeated one week after the main test visit, “once the medication administration had ceased”, and “There were no group differences between the placebo and escitalopram groups on any of the follow-up questionnaires.”
- 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. For PSSD: “Ancillary non-sexual symptoms may include: emotional numbing”, followed in the list by depersonalization, other sensory problems and cognitive impairment. “Emotional and genital numbing commonly go together.” “Emotional numbing or depersonalization may be a person’s main complaint in primary care.” Section 3 also describes the core criterion as an enduring change in genital sensation after treatment stops. Criterion: the problem is present for at least 3 months after stopping. These are proposed criteria from expert agreement. “The incidence of these conditions is unknown.”
- Price J, Cole V, Goodwin GM. Emotional side-effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors: qualitative study. Br J Psychiatry 2009;195(3):211-7. Read in full (Cambridge Core). Interviews with 38 people who had taken an SSRI; some described “being unable to cry when this would have been appropriate”.
- Moral Medicine, Interview with PSSD Network President Rosie, 9 July 2024, embedded here from 26:59 to 28:11. From the YouTube auto-captions: prescribed Lexapro by a private psychiatrist, started “about August of 2020” (6:15). “Very muted, very numbed and I thought that was good” (7:09 to 7:11). “I took my last pill on December 7th of 2020” (11:20 to 11:23). Also: “like waking up completely colourblind, like I can still see but I can’t see colour” (27:06 to 27:11); “I struggle to just feel any emotion, cry” (27:34). “Very very grey and numb” (27:13 to 27:17). Aged 20 when she took it (11:34). Elsewhere in the film, outside the extract, she mentions suicide. Her story on our site: Rosie.
- Moral Medicine, I Lost Myself on Lexapro: A Nurse’s Story of Withdrawal, Identity, and Survival, interview with Amanda, 24 November 2025, embedded here from 18:54 to 19:40. From the YouTube auto-captions: prescribed 10 mg of Lexapro at 22 (1:44 to 1:48). On it from 2017 to 2023 (13:31 to 13:37). As she came off it, “my positive emotions started to come back” (18:56 to 19:02), joy she “had not felt in 5 and 1/2 to 6 years” (19:07). Also: “my senses were all like numbed for years, but I didn’t know until I started to come off that they were so numb” (19:19 to 19:26). She was still coming off it at the time of the interview. Her story on our site: Amanda.
- Stephen’s story on our site: Stephen’s story: 6 days back on Lexapro, from his interview with Moral Medicine.
- MedDRA term Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, code 10086208.
This information does not replace medical advice. Talk to your doctor before you make any decision about your treatment.
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Escitalopram: what the official texts say, country by country
For the SSRI antidepressant escitalopram (Lexapro, Cipralex), the product information we read in the United Kingdom says there have been reports of long-lasting sexual dysfunction where symptoms continued after SSRIs or SNRIs were stopped. This is known as post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD). The EU medicines regulator set the wording of this warning in 2019 for ten medicines, escitalopram among them, and a government answer in Parliament says UK product information for all SSRIs was updated in 2019 to carry it.
This is a record of what each text says and of the date it prints. A text is quoted in its own words, or summarised where the row says so. It is not a comparison of countries. All medicines and countries
Escitalopram: the official texts, country by country (33 texts read)
| Country or region | What the text says | Document | Dates |
|---|---|---|---|
| United Kingdom | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.4 Special warnings and precautions for use · Sexual dysfunction Sexual side effects, as listed4.8 Undesirable effects · Psychiatric disorders · Common Sexual side effects, as listed4.8 Undesirable effects · Reproductive system and breast disorders · Common Sexual side effects, as listed4.8 Undesirable effects · Reproductive system and breast disorders · Not known The same text also says4.8 Undesirable effects A table cell or list line is shown whole, as the text prints it. Some of them also name side effects that are not sexual. | Text for professionals Summary of Product Characteristics (SmPC): Cipralex 10 mg film-coated tabletsCipralex 5 mg, 10 mg and 20 mg film-coated tablets, Lundbeck Limited · Read in a compendium of product information: emcAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; 3 related documents, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| European Union | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping3. Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI); selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) – Persistent sexual dysfunction after drug withdrawal (EPITT no 19277) · Summary of product characteristics · 4.4. Special warnings and precautions for use · Sexual dysfunction Sexual side effects that continue after stopping3. Serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRI); selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRI) – Persistent sexual dysfunction after drug withdrawal (EPITT no 19277) · Package leaflet · 2. What you need to know before you take [Invented name] · Warnings and precautions The wording is for ten medicines: citalopram, escitalopram, fluoxetine, fluvoxamine, paroxetine, sertraline, desvenlafaxine, duloxetine, milnacipran and venlafaxine. This is wording for national product texts. There is no single EU product text for this medicine. | Document from the regulator New product information wording – Extracts from PRAC recommendations on signals. Adopted at the 13-16 May 2019 PRACRead on the regulator's site: European Medicines AgencyAlso on record: 1 more related document, with such a sentence | PublishedChecked |
| United States | Sexual side effects, as listed5 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS · 5.11 Sexual Dysfunction The same text also says5 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS · 5.11 Sexual Dysfunction This text has no sentence about sexual side effects continuing after the medicine is stopped. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. On 14 October 2026 we searched the labels in openFDA, the FDA's open database. A sentence about sexual dysfunction continuing after stopping stood on none of the 332 labels in that database that name escitalopram. | Text for professionals Lexapro® (escitalopram) tablets, for oral use; Lexapro® (escitalopram) oral solution: Full Prescribing InformationLexapro film-coated tablets 5 mg, 10 mg and 20 mg, and oral solution 1 mg per mL, Allergan, Inc. · Read in the government's medicines database: DailyMedAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with no such sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| Canada | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping7 WARNINGS AND PRECAUTIONS · Reproductive Health: Female and Male Potential · Function Sexual side effects that continue after stopping8 ADVERSE REACTIONS · 8.2 Clinical Trial Adverse Reactions · Male and Female Sexual Dysfunction with SSRIs The same text also says8 ADVERSE REACTIONS · 8.2 Clinical Trial Adverse Reactions · Male and Female Sexual Dysfunction with SSRIs This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals PRODUCT MONOGRAPH INCLUDING PATIENT MEDICATION INFORMATION: CIPRALEX, escitalopram oxalate (as escitalopram), TabletsCipralex tablets 5, 10, 15 and 20 mg escitalopram (base), Lundbeck Canada Inc. · Read in the regulator's own database: Drug Product DatabaseAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; 2 related documents, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| Australia | Sexual side effects that continue after stoppingSection 4.4 · Sexual DysfunctionSection 4.4 of Australia's product information for Lexapro has a warning headed sexual dysfunction. It says there are reports of sexual dysfunction that lasted a long time, with symptoms going on after SSRIs or SNRIs were stopped.Summarised, not quoted, because of the TGA's access terms.In this product's text since 2023, according to the text for professionals, 23 August 2023. The regulator's site asks readers to accept its terms before it shows this text. | Text for professionals AUSTRALIAN PRODUCT INFORMATION – LEXAPRO (ESCITALOPRAM OXALATE) FILM-COATED TABLETS AND ORAL SOLUTIONLEXAPRO, Lundbeck Australia Pty Ltd · Read in the regulator's own database: TGA eBSAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| New Zealand | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.4 Special warnings and precautions for use · Warnings · Sexual dysfunction This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals New Zealand Data Sheet, LexaproLexapro 10 mg and 20 mg film-coated tablets, Pharmacy Retailing t/a Healthcare Logistics · Read in the regulator's own database: MedsafeAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; 2 related documents, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| Germany | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping2. Was sollten Sie vor der Einnahme von Cipralex beachten? · Warnhinweise und Vorsichtsmaßnahmen Sexual side effects, as listed4. Welche Nebenwirkungen sind möglich? · Häufig (kann bis zu 1 von 10 Behandelten betreffen): Sexual side effects, as listed4. Welche Nebenwirkungen sind möglich? · Nicht bekannt (Häufigkeit auf Grundlage der verfügbaren Daten nicht abschätzbar): The same text also says4. Welche Nebenwirkungen sind möglich? This is the copy in a compendium of product information. The regulator's database asks visitors to accept its terms first, which we did not do. | Patient leaflet Gebrauchsinformation: Information für AnwenderCipralex 10 mg Filmtabletten, H. Lundbeck A/S · Read in a compendium of product information: PatientenInfo-ServiceAlso on record: text for professionals, with such a sentence; text for professionals, could not be opened; related document, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| France | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.4. Mises en garde spéciales et précautions d'emploi · Dysfonction sexuelle Sexual side effects, as listed4.8. Effets indésirables · Affections psychiatriques · Fréquent Sexual side effects, as listed4.8. Effets indésirables · Affections des organes de reproduction et du sein · Fréquent Sexual side effects, as listed4.8. Effets indésirables · Affections des organes de reproduction et du sein · Fréquence indéterminée The same text also says4.8. Effets indésirables The text itself prints no date of revision. Texts for other products in this country do not all say the same. We searched them for sentences about sexual side effects continuing after stopping and did not read them whole. This row shows the product named, and no other. A table cell or list line is shown whole, as the text prints it. Some of them also name side effects that are not sexual. | Text for professionals Résumé des Caractéristiques du ProduitSEROPLEX 10 mg, comprimé pelliculé sécable, H. LUNDBECK A/S · Read in the government's medicines database: Base de données publique des médicamentsAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Updated by the regulatorChecked |
| Italy | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.4 Avvertenze speciali e precauzioni di impiego · Disfunzione sessuale Sexual side effects, as listed4.8 Effetti indesiderati · Disturbi psichiatrici · Comune Sexual side effects, as listed4.8 Effetti indesiderati · Patologie del sistema riproduttivo e della mammella · Comune Sexual side effects, as listed4.8 Effetti indesiderati · Patologie del sistema riproduttivo e della mammella · Non nota The same text also says4.8 Effetti indesiderati The text itself prints no date of revision. A table cell or list line is shown whole, as the text prints it. Some of them also name side effects that are not sexual. | Text for professionals Riassunto delle caratteristiche del prodottoCipralex 5 mg, 10 mg, 15 mg e 20 mg compresse rivestite con film, H. Lundbeck A/S · Read in the regulator's own database: Banca Dati FarmaciAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence | Made available by the regulatorChecked |
| Spain | Sexual side effects that continue after stopping4.4. Advertencias y precauciones especiales de empleo · Disfunción sexual Sexual side effects, as listed4.8. Reacciones adversas · Trastornos psiquiátricos · Frecuente Sexual side effects, as listed4.8. Reacciones adversas · Trastornos del aparato reproductor y de la mama · Frecuente Sexual side effects, as listed4.8. Reacciones adversas · Trastornos del aparato reproductor y de la mama · Desconocida The same text also says4.8. Reacciones adversas A table cell or list line is shown whole, as the text prints it. Some of them also name side effects that are not sexual. | Text for professionals Ficha técnicaCipralex 10 mg comprimidos recubiertos con película, Lundbeck España, S.A. · Read in the regulator's own database: CIMAAlso on record: patients' leaflet, with such a sentence; related document, with such a sentence | Text revisedChecked |
| Brazil | Sexual side effects, as listed9. REAÇÕES ADVERSAS · Distúrbios psiquiátricos · Comum Sexual side effects, as listed9. REAÇÕES ADVERSAS · Distúrbios do sistema reprodutor e mama · Comum Sexual side effects, as listed9. REAÇÕES ADVERSAS · Distúrbios do sistema reprodutor e mama · Desconhecido The same text also says9. REAÇÕES ADVERSAS This text has no sentence about sexual side effects continuing after the medicine is stopped. This is the holder's own copy. The regulator's database refused our requests (it blocks by country; we asked from Denmark). The originator product's text could not be opened. This is the text of another product, the one named in this row. A table cell or list line is shown whole, as the text prints it. Some of them also name side effects that are not sexual. | Text for professionals Escena® oxalato de escitalopram: bula para o profissional de saúdeEscena comprimidos revestidos 10 mg e 20 mg, Cristália Produtos Químicos Farmacêuticos Ltda. · Read on the holder's own site: Cristália Produtos Químicos Farmacêuticos Ltda.Also on record: 1 more text for professionals, could not be opened; 2 patients' leaflets, with no such sentence; patients' leaflet, could not be opened | Last change listedChecked |
| India | This text has no sentence about sexual side effects continuing after the medicine is stopped. This is the holder's own copy. This regulator publishes no database of such texts. This text names sexual side effects in several places that this row does not show. Together those passages are too long to reproduce here. The document link in this row opens the text. That they are not shown says nothing about how common these side effects are. | Text for professionals S-CITADEP TabletsS-CITADEP tablets, Cipla Ltd. · Read on the holder's own site: Cipla (ciplamed.com)Also on record: 1 more text for professionals, could not be opened | Text revisedChecked |
Brand names
These are the brand names of escitalopram we saw in the official lists, compendia and regulators' pages we opened on or after 14 October 2026. A country may have more.
- Lexapro
- United States, New Zealand, Brazil
- Cipralex
- United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain
- Seroplex
- France
- Enalto
- United Kingdom
- Balansya
- Canada
- Loxalate
- New Zealand
- Giachela
- Italy
- Prameffex
- Italy
- Gomeisa
- Italy
- Entact
- Italy
- Sosecit
- Italy
- Amasci
- Italy
- Escertal
- Italy
- Xipram
- Italy
- Esertia
- Spain
- Diprex
- Spain
- Essential
- Spain
- Heipram
- Spain
- Deciprax
- Brazil
- Esc
- Brazil
- Esc ODT
- Brazil
- Escena
- Brazil
- Escilex
- Brazil
- Escip
- Brazil
- Espran
- Brazil
- Eudok
- Brazil
- Exodus
- Brazil
- Felissa
- Brazil
- Fusor
- Brazil
- Lexaprass
- Brazil
- Mind
- Brazil
- Reconter
- Brazil
- Reconter ODT
- Brazil
- Sytoc
- Brazil
- Unitram
- Brazil
What is not known
- No reliable figure exists for how often PSSD happens. (source)
- One study of health records gives an estimate for men, counted through prescriptions for erection medicines. (source)
- It is not known how many people fully recover. (source)
- None of the product texts we read says how long the sexual dysfunction can last. (source)
Code and reporting
In a report to a medicines regulator, the term is Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (MedDRA code 10086208). Where to report, country by country
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