A doctor has issued a warning about a relatively unknown condition linked to antidepressants after a 23-year-old woman revealed she has been unable to orgasm since taking the medication.

Lauren Friedman says her life changed after she was prescribed an SSRI, a commonly used type of antidepressant used to treat conditions including anxiety, depression and OCD.

The Vanderbilt University student claims the side effects continued long after she stopped taking the medication, leaving her unable to experience sexual pleasure and struggling with emotional numbness.

Friedman recently shared her story during an event hosted by the MAHA Institute, where she opened up about the impact the condition has had on her life.

Doctors have issued a warning after the 23-year-old revealed she can no longer orgasm. (stock image) Credit: cottonbro studio/Pexels

The 23-year-old said she has lost the ability to feel many of the emotions she once experienced and struggles to connect with those closest to her.

"I can't feel love for my own mother, which is the hardest thing on Earth," Friedman said.

She also described feeling "sexually defunct and emotionally lobotomized" following her treatment.

"I feel so deeply humiliated and dehumanized to share to groups of strangers and the press, and inevitably the internet, that I'm quite literally sexually defunct and emotionally lobotomized," she said.

The student has previously compared her symptoms to "chemical castration" and says they have persisted for years.

Friedman believes she is suffering from post-SSRI sexual dysfunction, more commonly known as PSSD.

The condition is considered rare but can involve symptoms that continue after a person stops taking antidepressants.

According to the PSSD Network, symptoms can include genital numbness, loss of libido, difficulty reaching orgasm, emotional blunting, cognitive impairment and an inability to experience pleasure.

For some sufferers, symptoms may continue for months or even years after treatment ends.

Dr Kenneth Peters, chief of urology at Corewell Health in Southeast Michigan, says PSSD can affect patients in a variety of ways.

"Most of us expect if we're on a drug and have side effects, we stop the drug, we stop the side effects, but it's the opposite of this," he told USA Today.

Peters explained that some patients report physical symptoms such as genital numbness, erectile dysfunction or difficulty reaching orgasm, while others experience emotional changes.

"It is a striking thing when you see it as a clinician," Peters said.

Despite concerns surrounding PSSD, Peters stressed that SSRIs continue to play an important role in treating mental health conditions.

He said patients deserve clear information about potential side effects, but warned against frightening people away from treatments that may significantly improve their lives.

Antidepressants can be life-saving for many people. (stock image) Credit: Kinga Krzeminska / Getty

"You don't want to scare people from taking something that could be potentially life-saving for them either," Peters said.

Researchers are continuing to study PSSD and why some people appear to experience long-lasting symptoms after taking antidepressants.

For Friedman, speaking publicly about her experience is part of an effort to raise awareness of a condition she believes more people should know about before beginning treatment.

Featured image credit: cottonbrostudio/Pexels

Doctors in China have detailed a rare and deeply distressing case of persistent genital arousal disorder (PGAD) — a little-known condition that can cause spontaneous, uncontrollable orgasm-like sensations without any sexual desire.

The patient, a 20-year-old woman whose identity has not been revealed, has lived with the symptoms for the past five years, enduring multiple orgasms each day that would strike without warning and last anywhere from seconds to hours, per Psypost.

Far from pleasurable, the condition left her unable to attend school or work, strained her relationships, and fueled severe psychological distress.

Her ordeal began at the age of 14, when she first experienced unusual genital sensitivity alongside troubling beliefs — including the idea that others could read her thoughts — leading to psychiatric hospitalization for depressive and psychotic symptoms.

Around that time, she started feeling what she described as an “electric” sensation rising through her abdomen, followed by pelvic contractions similar to orgasms.

Over the years, she cycled through anti-epileptic and psychiatric medications without relief.

At one point, she became convinced her orgasms were being externally controlled, compounding her distress.

Neurologists ultimately ruled out epilepsy using EEG monitoring, and physical exams showed no structural abnormalities in her brain or reproductive system.

Her diagnosis: persistent genital arousal disorder — a condition formally described only in 2001 and still poorly understood.

As Jing Yan and Dafang Ouyang of Peking University Sixth Hospital explained in their case report: “The sexual arousal symptoms are characterized by recurrent and spontaneous orgasmic experiences.”

Unlike typical sexual arousal, PGAD occurs without desire and without the mental satisfaction of knowing release is imminent.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, symptoms can include pressure, throbbing, burning, itching, or even pins-and-needles sensations, and they can be deeply disruptive.

Possible triggers range from nerve damage and spinal abnormalities to medication side effects.

Some studies suggest antidepressant or anti-anxiety drug changes may play a role, while others point to dopamine imbalance in the brain’s reward and arousal systems.

In this case, doctors believe dopamine may have been the key. When the woman began treatment with the antipsychotic risperidone — later switched to olanzapine — her symptoms quickly eased.

Within weeks, the orgasms became less frequent and less severe, and her delusions subsided. She was able to return to work and social life.

However, when she stopped taking the medication on her own, her symptoms returned — only to improve again once the drugs were resumed.

This response, the authors suggest, supports the theory that dopamine-blocking medications could help manage PGAD in certain patients.

Still, they caution against overgeneralizing. PGAD affects an estimated 0.6% to 3% of the population — more often women — and each case can stem from different causes. What works for one patient may not work for another.

The case, published July 10, 2025, in AME Case Reports, offers rare insight into a condition that remains both underdiagnosed and stigmatized. 

Featured image credit: Emelie Ollila / Getty

A woman has opened up in a recent interview about her so-called "addiction to orgasms" and how it has affected her life.

Speaking to The Sun, 23-year-old Amy Matthews struggles in life to contain orgasms; having them in public, in front of her parents, and describes herself as "addicted" to the sensation, having several a day.

Amy, a dance teacher who hails from Oxford in England, regularly climaxes nine times during sex, but claims that her orgasm record is 18 in one sexual session.

Her first sexual encounter at the age of 15 was apparently nothing special, but when she started exploring her own sexuality more and with a partner at the age of 18, her sex drive escalated massively.

Amy says that, as she became more in touch with her body, she began orgasming more and more to curtail the chronic pain she experienced as a result of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, her polycystic ovary syndrome, and through the body-shaming, she received from a teacher.

Amy also used orgasming as a way to manage stress and anxiety in her life, to bring herself down from regular panic attacks.

But now Amy says that she finds it difficult to contain her libido - orgasming the instant she sees someone she's attracted to, or coming close to fainting during sex due to the intensity of her climaxes.

After being referred to a college counselor for sex addiction therapy to cope with her dependency on orgasms. Now she can control her sexual urges at work but claims that multiple orgasms are still the first thing she gets out of the way upon returning him.

Speaking to The Sun, Amy stated: "There was a lot of drama going on in my life and I started to suffer anxiety.

"Each time I had a panic attack, I found having an orgasm could help calm me down. The feeling of release was addictive and that’s when I started orgasming more regularly.

"One time, I had stormed out of a classroom, I sat down in the corridor and had one. While I don’t think I made any noise or blushed, God knows what other students must have thought seeing me sitting there. But it definitely made me less stressed."

She continued: "If I had a panic attack, the orgasm relief was better if I’d had physical sex — but I could feel emotionally worse afterward. At one stage I was having lots of sexual partners.

"I wouldn’t say the number of guys I have slept with was into three figures but it isn’t far off.

"With my third boyfriend, when I was 21, I had the best sex. The most memorable time was when I had a full-body climax. I couldn’t breathe. It lasted for ages. It was like being on a rollercoaster when the ride keeps going up. You want it to be over because you can’t take it anymore."

Amy added: "I’ve got a high sex drive and I prefer to see guys casually. I only sleep with them on two or three occasions."

She admits that she doesn't want a long-term relationship, and that she just "needs" to orgasm regularly. In fact, she says that some men are scared off by how regularly she can climax.

Pondering why she is so susceptible to orgasms, Amy believes it is from the "extra testosterone" in her body from her polycystic ovary syndrome.

Most people would agree that an orgasm is one of the best feelings in the world. A life without the Big O would seem like a pretty shabby one. But how much would someone have to pay you to never experience another? Would nearly $2 million be enough money? Personally, I think that most people would still feel pretty short-changed, even if they did end up in a mansion because of it. That's probably exactly how Ginny Atchison felt, after medical negligence left her orgasmically impotent for the rest of her life.

The 45-year-old's case of cauda equina syndrome was tragically misdiagnosed by doctors, and thus she lost her ability to experience an orgasm. Cauda equina syndrome is a spinal condition in which nerves at the base of the spinal cord are squeezed together, which causes intense pain, as well as numbness in the back, legs, backside, legs and groin. It can also affect mobility and bladder control, as well as one's sexual functions.

Ginny first noticed that she was experiencing back pain in 2008, but did not visit a hospital for it until 2010. When she did so, doctors told her that it was probably the result of a slipped disc, and thus she was not given an MRI scan. However, the pain steadily worsened, until Ginny was forced to visit a physiotherapist. When she told them that she was finding it difficult to urinate, that's when things got serious.

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Ginny's physiotherapist referred her to an orthopaedic triage at her local hospital and she finally got a scan in 2011. This showed that she did indeed have a slipped disc, but that it was pressing down on her nerves. At one point Ginny hadn't passed water in over 24 hours and was in agony. She was rushed to surgery after the doctor's used a catheter to drain her swollen bladder. After she woke up, her life had changed forever. She never had another orgasm again. The year-long delay in her diagnoses had caused irreversible damage. Today she still struggles to walk long distances and has been left with a permanent catheter.

In a recent interview, she stated: "I was always a very sexual person. I enjoyed being intimate, having sex at least a few times a week when I was in a relationship. I’d being having sex regularly since I was 16. ‘But I didn’t realise how important that was to me until it was gone ... You never think you will stop having sex in your 40s. It was always important to me and, although I am now single, I really miss that intimacy."

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She added: "I struggled a lot, because loss of orgasm is a terrible thing. My relationship with my partner at the time, who I don’t want to name, came to an end. We are still best friends, but after the injury we couldn’t be intimate and the romantic part of our relationship was over ...  I was told to go to a sex shop and try and buy vibrators to improve things, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t feel a thing. My nerves are damaged and that’s not going to come back. It was such an awful time and I just had to accept that my sexual feeling had gone."

Ginny has since pursued legal action against Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and, after a long appeal process, was granted the sum of £1.5 million (nearly $2 million). She plans to use the money to redesign her house in order to accommodate her disability. But sadly, her victory in court has been bittersweet; Ginny knows that the door to the world of sexual pleasure has been suddenly shut in her face, and for now, there's nothing that can be done about it.

How much do you take crying for granted? It may seem like an odd question; but for Haley Vega, weeping is simply not an option any more: she can never cry again. That's not to say that she can't be upset or sad, but no matter what the tears won't come. It's not because she's heartless; but the result of an incredibly rare allergic reaction to antidepressant medication, which dealt irreparable damage to her tear ducts.

Haley suffers from Stevens-Johnson syndrome - a reaction to medication or infection, which in turn affects the skin, mucous membranes and eyes, and can damage stem cells to prevent sufferers from crying. Instead she simply feels a sharp and intense pain whenever she should be weeping.

Haley was a chemical engineering student studying in Charleston, South Carolina; and was hospitalised with depression after a series of setbacks left her temporarily homeless, and her eating disorder overwhelmed her. She was prescribed antidepressants after being released from a mental health facility, which she reacted badly to in August 2017, becoming delirious and erratic.

In a recent interview, Haley stated: "They discharged me after I agreed to take a course of antidepressants,” she explained. “I thought they’d help make me feel better – but they ended up causing so many more problems ... I was behaving bizarrely. My memory is very hazy, but I’d be going to the fridge, taking bites out of food and then putting it back. I then jumped in the pool with all my clothes on. My parents came out and asked what I was doing and if I’d taken any drugs."

But when an angry rash appeared on her chest, Haley knew something was seriously wrong. "A doctor friend came over and took a look at me," she stated. "He suggested it could be Stevens-Johnson syndrome, and asked to see the antidepressants I was taking. He said he thought the dosage was too high and urged me to come off them, to see if my condition improved."

It didn't. It was too little too late. Haley later collapsed in the street and was rushed to hospital; her throat was closing up and her skin was dry and irritated. Doctors were worried that she might slip into anaphylactic shock, but once they realised that she had Stevens-Johnson syndrome, she was referred to a burns unit for specialist care. They were worried that Haley's skin was going to become necrotic.

"Every day the nurses would wheel me down for a bath and dab at my skin with wash cloths," she stated. "I’d look down and see it all bloodily shedding off. My nails all fell off, too. When the painkillers were working, I couldn’t feel much, so it’d be like watching myself in a horrible dream. But I was still in a lot of pain.  Where all the skin had come away, weeing was absolute agony. I’d go to the toilet and scream bloody murder."

Haley was put on a strict diet to nurse her back to health after her brush with death. But she is still coping with a number of side-effects which have taken their toll. "I’ve had to totally change my life," she stated. "One thing I’m desperate to fix is the fact that, right now, there’s no good list out there of what to expect when you’re recovering from something like this. There are so many unexpected side effects and you have to be so vigilant in taking care of yourself. I have to make sure I’m getting proper sleep, eating the right diet, being aware of any new allergies and also being careful with my skin, using only hypoallergenic products."

But despite all of her suffering, some good has come out of all this: after coming so close to dying, Haley is depressed no longer, and her struggle to live has given her a newfound sense of serenity and purpose. "In the space of two weeks, I went from being depressed in a mental health facility, wanting to die, to then fighting for my life," she stated. "You don’t realise how beautiful life is until it’s almost taken away. Now, people remark all the time about how cheerful I am."