LOS ANGELES - AussieJournal -- By CCHR International

The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR), a 57-year mental health industry watchdog, is calling for an urgent investigation into the clinical trials and regulatory decisions that led to the approval and continued marketing of antidepressants, due to long-standing evidence of devastating and enduring side effects that patients were never adequately warned about, including sexual dysfunction and emotional numbing.

More than 45 million Americans take antidepressants annually. Approximately 1.6 million are adolescents aged 13–17.

Yet antidepressants have long been associated with suicidality, violence, psychosis, cardiac arrhythmias, and serotonin syndrome (marked by muscle rigidity, high fever, seizures, irregular heartbeat, and organ failure). Critically, there is a high risk of drug-induced sexual dysfunction, including post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), a condition increasingly recognized as neurological injury, not a psychological complaint.

Psychiatrist Dr. Josef Witt-Doering, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Medical Officer and Global Pharmacovigilance Medical Director, has warned that SSRI and SNRI antidepressants can leave people "essentially lobotomized," causing cognitive impairment alongside profound sexual dysfunction. He describes emotional numbing, loss of sexual sensation, and detachment from pleasure that may persist indefinitely.[1]

A recent study confirms that antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction involves lasting structural and neurological damage. A preliminary 15-year retrospective chart review presented at the 26th Annual Fall Scientific Meeting of the Sexual Medicine Society of North America examined 43 young men (average age 27.6) diagnosed with PSSD. None had sexual dysfunction prior to antidepressant exposure. The findings were stark: 89% showed abnormal sensory nerve testing, indicating sensory nerve dysfunction that persisted six months or longer after discontinuation.[2]

These results refute the long-repeated claim that antidepressant sexual side effects are temporary and reversible.

Dr. Witt-Doering states that once PSSD symptoms begin, they can last for years or be permanent, yet the condition remains underrecognized by the medical community despite acknowledgment by major health authorities. He further stated: "You're essentially castrating people. But it's worse than that because … it causes cognitive damage as well… People will talk about being completely dissociated from their emotions…" and experience sexual dysfunction.

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For decades, drug regulators knew of this damage but failed to act. As early as 1991, researchers identified serotonin reuptake inhibitors as reducing genital sensation. In 2000, Harvard psychiatrist Dr. Joseph Glenmullen warned in Prozac Backlash that SSRIs caused sexual dysfunction in up to 60% of users and could produce a "chemical lobotomy" by damaging nerve endings in the brain.[3]

In 2011, the FDA acknowledged that sexual dysfunction from fluoxetine may persist after discontinuation, amending product labeling. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders (DSM-5) later echoed this warning.[4] Yet, no boxed warning was issued.

In 2018, 22 international experts, led by psychopharmacologist Dr. David Healy, petitioned the FDA to mandate prominent warnings for all SSRIs and SNRIs, citing evidence that reduced genital sensitivity can occur rapidly. sometimes within 30 minutes of the first dose, with effects that may last for years or indefinitely after drug discontinuation.[5] The FDA failed to act.

This regulatory inaction is particularly troubling given that a substantial portion of the FDA's drug-approval budget is funded by industry user fees. User fees for human drugs (which account for a third of the agency's total budget) were 65%, or about $656 million.[6] Conflict of interest critics say this undermines patient protection.

Multiple studies confirm the scale of harm. A 2022 Psychology Today review found sexual dysfunction in 40–65% of antidepressant users, with nearly four in ten describing their symptoms after SSRI treatment as intolerable.[7] A 2023 Annals of General Psychiatry study stated that PSSD is a "well-documented side effect" that can persist indefinitely.[8]

The risks extend beyond adults. An estimated 9–10% of pregnant women in the U.S. take antidepressants, often without informed consent regarding fetal harm. Studies link prenatal SSRI exposure to altered sensory processing, disrupted neurodevelopment, and increased risks of autism, cardiac defects, and cleft palate.[9]

CCHR's Freedom of Information Act investigations across 32 states revealed that 920,411 children aged 0–17 were prescribed antidepressants under Medicaid in 2023 alone, including 25,000 aged five or younger.

In December, an Expert Working Group advising the UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency concluded that patient information must more clearly communicate the risks of suicidal behavior and persistent sexual dysfunction associated with 28 antidepressants.[10]

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CCHR asks why these drugs remain on the market without the strongest possible warnings. The answer, it says, lies in misleading marketing, adverse effects being misattributed to "mental illness," and global antidepressant sales exceeding $22 billion annually, taking precedence over patient safety.

Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International, says: "From pre-birth to adulthood, millions are exposed to drugs capable of inducing emotional blunting, suicidality, and potentially permanent sexual injury without adequate warning, while sanctioned by the FDA and driven by the psychiatric-pharmaceutical industry. They must be held accountable."

CCHR, established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry Dr. Thomas Szasz, urges those harmed by antidepressants to seek legal redress for failure to warn and damage. It demands an independent investigation into FDA approval and labeling decisions. Proven damaging psychotropic drugs, the organization says, should be removed from the market.

Reports of harm or abuse can be submitted through CCHR's reporting system.

Sources:

[1] Dr. Joseph Mercola, "Why Antidepressants Aren't Fixing Depression — and How the System Keeps That Truth Buried," Mercola.com, 4 Jan. 2026, articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2026/01/04/ssri-side-effects-long-term.aspx

[2] A Goldstein, N Kim, et al., "Sexual Symptoms and Biologic Pathophysiologies of Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD): A 15-Year Review," Journal of Sexual Medicine, 9 Dec. 2025, academic.oup.com/jsm/article/22/Supplement_4/qdaf320.309/8375231

[3] Joseph Glenmullen, M.D., Prozac Backlash, (Simon & Schuster, NY, 2000), p. 8

[3] David Healy, "Citizen petition: Sexual side effects of SSRIs and SNRIs," Int J Risk Saf Med, 4 June 2018, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6004927/

[4] David Healy, "Citizen petition: Sexual side effects of SSRIs and SNRIs."

[5] www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2021/08/27/fact-check-some-fdas-budget-does-come-industry-funding/5572076001/

[6] "Diagnosing Long-Term Sexual Dysfunction from SSRIs," Psychology Today, 20 Jan. 2022, www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/side-effects/202201/diagnosing-long-term-sexual-dysfunction-ssris

[7] Ben-Sheetrit, J, et al., "Estimating the risk of irreversible post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) due to serotonergic antidepressants," Annals of General Psychiatry, 22, 15 (2023), doi.org/10.1186/s12991-023-00447-0

[8] www.impactlaw.com/dangerous-drugs/zoloft/birth-defects/; pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7814075/; pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4006441/

[9] "Patient and family experiences inform antidepressant safety information review," UK Government, 1 Dec. 2025, www.gov.uk/government/news/patient-and-family-experiences-inform-antidepressant-safety-information-review