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Author: Admin | 2025-04-28
It's a bittersweet feeling when a patient comes in for their final session with me. Recently, one of my “guys,” a 29-year-old writer, came in for that last session. He was better. When we’d met, he’d never seen a psychiatrist and never thought he’d take a medication. “I hear they are addictive, and the side effects...I don’t want to be a zombie.” But together, we found a course of action that worked for him. And here we were, with lives and minds changed.Misperceptions about psychiatric medications and mental health treatment kill a lot men. While we have half the risk of depression compared to women, we are four times as likely to die by suicide. I’ve helped hundreds of men with mental health concerns and for many, medications are a part of the path to recovery. A few of the facts I wish men knew about them: 1. Sexual side effects aren't a given True, between 30 and 50 percent of men have sexual side effects from SSRI antidepressant medications. But sexual side effects can be easy to fix—if they need fixing. The most common side effect is a delay in climax, so for some guys this is a plus. But if the problem is that you can’t get it up, don’t worry; you’re not stuck with it. You can change meds. Different meds affect different people differently (this could be my mantra). I’ve seen men have sexual side effects taking Prozac but not when taking Zoloft and vice versa. A few antidepressants, namely Wellbutrin (bupropion), Remeron (mirtazapine), and St. John's Wort, have no sexual side effects. If you do have sexual side effects, you can also consider taking a medication holiday—the half-life of most antidepressants is 24 to 36 hours. Just make sure to talk to your prescriber before taking days off. Finally, there are medications like Viagra and Cialis if an antidepressant medication is necessary but causes sexual dysfunction. 2. Antidepressants aren’t just for making you happyDepression is not just a disease of sadness. Instead of being tearful, some men get irritable, isolated, and sleepless. Most antidepressant medications influence serotonin, and can help with those symptoms. In addition, this molecule is involved in more than our moods, namely our sex drive, appetite, sleep, cognition, and creativity. Men are often poor judges of the effects of depression on our own lives. So don’t just consider the medications’ effects on
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