Antidepressants and dulled emotions Doctors typically treat MDD with antidepressants like selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) or serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs). A 2017 survey reported that 46% of people on antidepressants experienced symptoms of emotional numbness.
Emotional blunting is frequently reported by patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and has been identified as one of the most prominent side effects of antidepressants leading to medication discontinuation.
In most cases, feelings of numbness go away when you stop taking the antidepressant that is causing you to feel this way.
Emotional blunting can be temporary, lasting from a few minutes to a few hours at a time. It can also occur over the long term, from months to years. It all depends on the underlying cause.
Researchers noticed how up to half of all patients on SSRI antidepressants report feeling numb, so they knew there had to be something happening in the brain. On studying 66 participants, the researchers found that SSRIs do not affect cognitive function in any way.
On antidepressant medication, it is possible that you might experience a sense of feeling numb and less like yourself. Though the symptoms of depression have decreased, there may be a sense that other emotional responses – laughing or crying, for example – are more difficult to experience.
Someone with a blunted affect displays little feeling in emotional contexts. For example, a person recalling their father's death might simply recount the factual details of the death. The person might not share much information about how they felt. They may show little facial expression or speak in a monotone voice.
When first starting antidepressants, you may not feel like yourself. Though your depression symptoms might have improved, feelings of extreme sadness can sometimes be replaced by an emotional numbness in which you are neither able to cry nor enjoy a real belly laugh.
These drugs target serotonin, a chemical that carries messages between nerve cells in the brain and has been dubbed the 'pleasure chemical'. One of the widely-reported side effects of SSRIs is 'blunting', where patients report feeling emotionally dull and no longer finding things as pleasurable as they used to.
A common side-effect among anti-depressants users is feeling emotionally numb or experiencing emotional blunting. Their hobbies are no longer fun. And their sex life is not as pleasurable as it used to. Researchers estimate that between 40% to 60% of people who take antidepressants experience this side effect.
The reported prevalence of antidepressant-induced apathy ranges between 5.8 and 50%, and for SSRIs ranges between 20 and 92%. Antidepressant-induced apathy emerges independently of diagnosis, age, and treatment outcome and appears dose-dependent and reversible.
After three months of antidepressant treatment, the research revealed relevant differences: patients reported their level of empathy to be lower, and brain activation was reduced in areas previously associated with empathy.
Approximately 70 percent of people taking SSRIs suffer from sexual side effects. But these drugs may also compromise the ability to feel love.
The most common signs your antidepressant dose is too strong are symptoms of serotonin syndrome. If you become overly elated, tense with your loved ones, or irritated and have mood swings, this indicates that you are taking high antidepressant doses.
Talk therapy is an excellent coping strategy to help you deal with the effects of emotional blunting. A talk therapist can help you understand why you might be feeling numb and give you tools to overcome apathy. A talk therapy session may include: Discussing past and current events that are troubling you.
We have reported 7 cases in which patients treated with a diverse range of SSRIs presented with an inability to cry after several weeks of treatment, even when distressed and in situation which would normally lead to crying.
SSRI-induced amotivational syndrome
This syndrome may be related to serotonergic effects on the frontal lobes and/or serotonergic modulation of mid-brain dopaminergic systems which project to the prefrontal cortex, both suggesting the possibility of frontal lobe dysfunction due to the alteration of serotonin levels.
Phases of SSRI Withdrawal
Acute withdrawal: The acute withdrawal phase can last six to eight weeks. 8 During this phase, you may begin to experience flu-like symptoms, have greater fatigue, and notice increased feelings of anxiety and depression.
Taking antidepressants may help to lift your mood. This can help you feel more able to do things that don't feel possible while you're depressed. This may include using other types of support for your mental health.
Common side effects of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) and serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs) can include: feeling agitated, shaky or anxious. feeling and being sick. indigestion and stomach aches.
When you're benefiting from antidepressants, you should feel: A mood that is less depressed, less irritable, happier, and more content.