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Max's story: 1 month on sertraline

Max was prescribed sertraline in 2018 and took it for about a month. Years later he lives with PSSD.

By Morten SkovPublished

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One month of sertraline, in 2018

Max was prescribed sertraline in 2018 and took it for about a month. What followed, he says, was a profound and life-altering change.

Years later, after several other medicines and repeated attempts to get better, the symptoms are still there. Max lives with Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD).

What Max describes

  • Emotional numbness, and the loss of pleasure.
  • Insomnia and chronic fatigue.
  • Sexual dysfunction.
  • A deep sense that his personality had vanished.

He was given no clear warning, he says, that any of this might not go away.

Thank you to Max for telling this story. This interview was recorded by Moral Medicine, who have filmed more than ninety of these conversations.

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