Yassie Pirani on the psychological toll of PSSD

A therapist on PSSD

In this interview, therapist and educator Yassie Pirani talks about Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD). She draws on her clinical work and on published research.

She cites a figure from her own study: among sexual- and gender-minority young people aged 15 to 29 in Canada and the US who had taken an antidepressant in the past, 13% reported persistent genital numbness. The survey covered only that group, so it is not a rate for everyone who has taken an antidepressant. Moral Medicine’s description of the video says the conversation is also about identity loss and grief.

What the interview covers

• The psychological, emotional and physical toll of PSSD.
• Why she says most doctors dismiss it, and how that adds to the harm.
• Her view that SSRIs and other drugs, such as finasteride and ashwagandha, can cause lasting neurological and sexual symptoms.
• The parallels she sees between PSSD and other forms of trauma.
• What she thinks therapists and medical professionals need to understand, and why she says patients feel betrayed.

Thank you to Yassie Pirani for this interview. It was recorded by Moral Medicine, who have filmed more than ninety of these conversations.

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