These drugs — including Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Celexa, and Lexapro — alter the way the body handles the “feel-good” brain chemical serotonin — a hormone responsible for regulating mood and happiness. As a result, things that once provoked strong reactions may now leave the same individual unaffected or even apathetic.
Nearly half of patients on all types of monoaminergic antidepressants report emotional blunting,6 and it is associated with serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI) therapy as follows: among 161 patients, 46% reported a narrowed range of affect, 21% reported an inability to cry, and 19% reported apathy.
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.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly used to treat depression, are associated with loss of motivation, anergy, and lack of curiosity often referred collectively as apathy.
But for some people, the reduction in intensity can be experienced as a "blunting" or "dulling" of their emotions. "You might not cry at a movie's happy ending or laugh with the same gusto. Or you might feel apathetic and not get the same kick out of doing things you enjoy, like playing golf or painting," Dr.
Sometimes, apathetic feelings are a result of things we can recognize and change—for example, we're feeling bored at work or we're no longer attracted to someone we once felt attracted to. But sometimes apathy is a symptom of a larger issue we're facing, like trauma, grief, or an underlying mental health condition.
Roughly half of people taking antidepressants report some degree of blunted emotions, according to a study published in the October 2017 issue of the Journal of Affective Disorders. For people with MDD, dulling one's emotions can be a mixed blessing.
To the Editor: Apathy or amotivation, indifference, and loss of initiative have been reported in patients with major depressive disorder or panic disorder who take serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs). These symptoms occurred dose-dependently and were reversible when the SSRI was discontinued.
Patients on SSRI antidepressants feel numb because the drug reduces reinforcement sensitivity, that is, our sensitivity to positive feedback, which you can also call rewards or pleasure.
What does Anti-anxiety Medications (Benzodiazepines) do? Benzodiazepines enhance the activity of the neurotransmitter GABA—a chemical in the brain that helps you to feel calm. Their effect also produces drowsiness, making it easier to fall asleep and sleep through the night.
5) Can my anxiety medication cause long-term changes to my brain and personality? Benzodiazepines may have a long-term impact on your central nervous system (CNS) — your brain and spinal cord. They might change your brain's reaction time and ability to think.
Apathy can affect each and every anxiety disorder, and while is most common with severe anxiety.
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.
"Apathy" was borrowed into English in the late 16th century from Greek "apatheia," which itself comes from the adjective "apathēs," meaning "without feeling." "Apathēs," in turn, was formed by combining the negating prefix "a-" with "pathos," meaning "emotion." Incidentally, if you've guessed that "pathos" is the ...
In an established AD, its deficiency is associated with higher cognitive decline and risk for delirium. The other mental changes associated with B12 deficiency include apathy, agitation, impaired concentration, insomnia, persecutory delusions, auditory and visual hallucinations, and disorganized thought-process.
Though many people may have short periods of apathy at some points in their lives (i.e. shrugging off disappointment, or feelings of 'cannot be bothered'), apathy in the medical sense is considered a long-term syndrome, typically associated with certain mental states or disorders.
SSRI-induced amotivational syndrome
Treatments include gradually reducing or discontinuing the SSRI, changing the SSRI to another antidepressant class, or co-prescribing with the SSRI a medication that boosts dopamine, such as the antidepressant bupropion.
Apathy also has been recognized in the treatment with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). It is explained that excessive serotonin inhibit frontal function directly and indirectly. Apathy which is misdiagnosed to depression can be worsen by starting or increasing SSRI.
For most people, antidepressants are the main cause of emotional blunting. In most cases, feelings of numbness go away when you stop taking the antidepressant that is causing you to feel this way. If you feel emotionally numb, it's important to tell your doctor.
Approximately 70 percent of people taking SSRIs suffer from sexual side effects. But these drugs may also compromise the ability to feel love.
Derealisation refers to a similar set of feelings and perceptions, but in this case it is the world itself that seems strange or unreal; everything may seem far away or staged in some way – as though life is being watched rather than lived. Depersonalisation and derealisation are relatively common on antidepressants.