I’m turned off – for good!

Q

My sex drive has bombed. Is it because I’ve started taking antidepressants? Karyn, Deddington

A

This is a tricky one.

The most common antidepressants, a group known as SSRIs, can all lower your sex drive and make it more difficult to enjoy sex or to reach orgasm. On the other hand, anxiety and depression – which

antidepressants are prescribed for – can have the same effect, and it’s not easy to know if your sex drive has bombed because of your depression, or because of the drugs used to treat it.

Talk to your doctor, who might try reducing your dose or, if you’ve been taking antidepressants for a while, tailing them off. Switching to a different drug that’s not in the SSRI group is sometimes the answer, although these can have different side effects.

Whatever the cause, talking therapy can help, too.