PSSD on Reddit: what people ask, answered

Reddit’s r/PSSD is a large forum for people with post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), where an antidepressant’s side effects carry on after the last tablet. Many people improve over time, says the PSSD Network, a patient group. Nobody can tell you who will, and no treatment has yet been shown to work.

PSSD isn’t only about sex. In 2022 a group of doctors and researchers proposed a checklist to recognise it. The main sign is a lasting change in how the genitals feel, often numbness. The checklist also includes emotional numbing (feeling flat), problems with concentration and memory, and changes in other senses.

A forum is a good place to find people who feel the same. It’s a harder place to find answers. The questions below are ones that come up when people search for “PSSD Reddit”, and every answer comes from a source you can check.

Jevin was 25 before he’d even heard of PSSD. He was on Reddit when someone mentioned r/PSSD in a comment, and he followed the link. In this one-minute extract he describes what happened next.

Play video: Jevin on finding r/PSSD (extract)

“I can relate to this,” he remembers thinking. It “connected a lot of dots”. Things he’d put down to his personality were, he now believes, “probably just all the pills”. Jevin’s story is on our site.

Will PSSD go away?

For some people it eases. For others it has lasted years after stopping. Nobody can say yet whose will ease, or when.

A 2021 survey of an online PSSD support group found that almost half said their symptoms had got better since they stopped the antidepressant. Better isn’t the same as gone, though. The published summary doesn’t say how many recovered fully.

A forum can’t give you your chances. The researchers behind an earlier survey of a PSSD forum said so themselves: the people who answer a forum survey aren’t typical of everyone, so a survey like that can’t show how often anything happens. The worst post you read tonight is one person’s story. It can’t tell you how yours will go.

Our page on what recovery looks like goes further.

Is there a cure for PSSD?

No. Nothing has been shown to work yet. The PSSD Network says there is currently “no effective treatment”.

Forums are full of things people have tried. The network says these stories “have not been objectively validated or repeated”. That means nobody has tested them properly. It warns against trying medicines or supplements on your own, because some could make symptoms worse.

Some people on forums talk about going back on the antidepressant to see if it helps. When we searched the medical research in October 2026, we found no study that has tested this for PSSD. That’s a decision for you and your prescriber.

If a tip sounds promising, take it to your doctor as a question.

Is PSSD real?

Yes. UK leaflets already warn about the symptoms, even though the manuals doctors use to diagnose conditions don’t list it. The UK leaflet for Cipralex (escitalopram, sold as Lexapro in the US) says that in some cases, sexual problems “have continued after stopping treatment”.

Forums are part of PSSD’s history. A 2026 UK study says the name was first used in 2006, after reports turned up in online support groups. When the EU medicines regulator asked for the warning in 2019, it had looked at social media as well as side effect reports and studies.

In October 2026 the MHRA, the UK medicines regulator, said the name PSSD itself will be added to the leaflets of the antidepressants linked to it.

From forum to leaflet

2006

A namePSSD is first used, after reports in online support groups.

2019

A warningThe EU asks for it in the leaflets, after looking at social media too.

October 2026

The name in the leafletThe UK regulator says “PSSD” will be added.

Some people go looking online because a doctor said no. A man the 2026 study calls Tony was told by his GP that “it can’t be the medication because it’s out of your system”. So he searched. “I found other people,” he says. Our page Is PSSD real? goes through the rest of the evidence.

What can I do?

These medicines help many people. If you have side effects, that’s a decision for you and your prescriber. Don’t stop suddenly.

Write down your medicine and dates, for example “Sertraline 50 mg from January 2023, last tablet March 2024.” Add what changed in your own words, including changes beyond sex, such as feeling flat or struggling to concentrate.

Nick took what he’d found online to his psychiatrist: medical papers, the PSSD Network and the subreddit. She listened, he says, and “didn’t try to gaslight” him.

Play video: Nick on showing his psychiatrist what he found (extract)

You can report it without a doctor agreeing. A forum post reaches the people who read it. A report reaches the regulator.

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. Our Yellow Card guide for PSSD shows each step.
• Use the right words. If symptoms continued after stopping, write Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (MedDRA 10086208).

Our reporting guide walks you through it

What else do people ask?

How common is PSSD? Nobody has a reliable figure. A 2023 review of the research couldn’t find one. A 2023 study of health records in Israel put the risk at about 1 in 200 men under 50 who took these antidepressants. It counted only lasting erection problems, and left out women.

Is r/PSSD a good place to start? It’s the largest PSSD forum, the PSSD Network says. Posts there are people’s own experiences, and we don’t run it. If a big forum feels heavy, our page on finding the PSSD community lists smaller groups. For finasteride, see PFS on Reddit.

Can women get PSSD? Yes. For women, the 2022 checklist includes a change in how the genitals feel, less pleasure at orgasm, and less vaginal lubrication. The emotional changes can affect anyone. More in PSSD in women.

Jevin found the word in a stranger’s comment. If it fits you too, start with our PSSD page, then take the leaflet line to your GP.

Sources

1. Lundbeck Limited. Cipralex (escitalopram) patient information leaflet, electronic Medicines Compendium (UK), leaflet last revised May 2025, page updated 14 January 2026. Section 2: medicines like Cipralex “may cause symptoms of sexual dysfunction”; “In some cases, these symptoms have continued after stopping treatment.”
2. 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 from expert agreement. Section 3: an enduring change in genital sensation after treatment stops. Criterion 5: “Enduring inability to orgasm or decreased sensation of pleasure during orgasm”; ancillary: “decreased vaginal lubrication (females)”. Ancillary non-sexual symptoms may include “emotional numbing”, “depersonalization”, “other sensory problems involving skin, smell, taste or vision” and “cognitive impairment”.
3. PSSD Network. Frequently asked questions. It says “many people do improve over time”, and why some recover and others don’t “is still unknown”. On treatment: “no effective treatment”. Self-reports “have not been objectively validated or repeated”. It advises against self-experimentation “due to the potential risk of causing worsening of your existing symptoms”. Join our community: the PSSD subreddit is “the largest and most active forum” for PSSD (the network’s own description). Both read 27 October 2026.
4. Studt A, Gannon M, Orzel J, Vaughan A, Pearlman AM. Characterizing post-SSRI sexual dysfunction and its impact on quality of life through an international online survey. Int J Risk Saf Med 2021;32(4):321-9. Survey sent to an online PSSD support group; 239 responses. Overall severity improved for 45% and worsened or stayed the same for 37% after stopping. Read as the abstract only.
5. Ben-Sheetrit J, Aizenberg D, Csoka AB, Weizman A, Hermesh H. Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction: clinical characterization and preliminary assessment of contributory factors and dose-response relationship. J Clin Psychopharmacol 2015;35(3):273-8. Survey of people who answered an invitation in a PSSD forum; the authors write that “selection and report biases” “do not allow generalization or estimation of incidence”. Abstract.
6. Tarchi L, Merola GP, Baccaredda-Boy O and colleagues. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, post-treatment sexual dysfunction and persistent genital arousal disorder: a systematic review. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf 2023;32(10):1053-67. “It was not possible to determine reliable estimates of prevalence.” Abstract.
7. Ben-Sheetrit J, Hermon Y, Birkenfeld S and colleagues. Estimating the risk of irreversible post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) due to serotonergic antidepressants. Ann Gen Psychiatry 2023;22(1):15. Health records of 12,302 men aged 21 to 49 in Israel; erection problems measured by prescriptions for erection tablets; risk “1 in 216 patients (0.46%)”. Men only.
8. Our search of PubMed on 27 October 2026 for PSSD with reinstatement, rechallenge, reintroduction or restarting found no study testing a return to the antidepressant as a treatment for PSSD.
9. Brugi S, Budd B, Mackie C, Fish S. “It’s taken away the most fundamental things about being human”: the lived experience and impact of post-SSRI sexual dysfunction. International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being 2026;21(1):2717470. Interviews with ten people in the UK; names are pseudonyms. Introduction: the term was coined after Bahrick (2006) “identified reports of persistent SD following SSRI use in online peer support communities” (Bahrick 2006 could not be opened). Results: Tony’s GP said “it can’t be the medication because it’s out of your system”; Tony: “I found other people”.
10. European Medicines Agency, PRAC. Recommendations on signals adopted at the 13-16 May 2019 PRAC meeting, section 1.3. Evidence considered: “EudraVigilance, literature, social media and cumulative reviews” from the companies.
11. MHRA. Antidepressants: new safety measures for all patients. Drug Safety Update, 15 October 2026. It says: “The term ‘Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction’ (‘PSSD’) will be added to the PILs of antidepressants associated with a risk of sexual dysfunction that may continue even after the drug is stopped.”
12. Moral Medicine. 15 Years of Suffering: Jevin’s Battle with PSSD, 1 July 2024 (the title is the channel’s). From the auto-captions: he didn’t know about PSSD or the Reddit forum until 25 (4:53 to 5:03). “I was just on Reddit”, and someone mentioned r/PSSD (31:58 to 32:14). “I can relate to this” (32:14 to 32:21); “it connected a lot of dots for me” (32:30 to 32:33). Symptoms he’d put down to his personality “was probably just all the pills” (32:38 to 32:54).
13. Moral Medicine. PSSD - Man Lives With Complete Sexual And Emotional Blunting, interview with Nick, 30 May 2023 (the title is the channel’s). From the auto-captions, 21:22 to 21:59: he showed his psychiatrist “all the medical literature”, the PSSD Network and the subreddit; “she didn’t try to gaslight”.
14. GOV.UK. Report a problem with a medicine or medical device.
15. MedDRA, the Medical Dictionary for Regulatory Activities: Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, code 10086208.
16. PolitiFact. PSSD and antidepressants, 31 July 2026. PSSD isn’t an official diagnosis in the DSM, the American psychiatry manual, or in the WHO’s International Classification of Diseases.
17. r/PSSD (reddit.com/r/PSSD) could not be opened from our checking tools on 27 October 2026. No thread is quoted or linked. SIDEfxHUB does not run or moderate it.

Sources checked on 27 October 2026. AI-assisted writing and review, not clinical review.