Depression drugs ‘take away pain – but also pleasure’

SCIENTISTS have finally found why antidepressants cause “emotional blunting” and often dull feelings of joy.

A common side effect of the most popular antidepressants, known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIS), is that the tablets sap enjoyment.

The drugs work by keeping more of the body’s “feel-good” chemical, serotonin, flowing around the brain for longer but with some consequences.

University of Cambridge scientists recruited 66 people who were not depressed into a trial and gave half of them escitalopram, an SSRI, for at least three weeks.

A suite of tests found these people became less sensitive to rewards which altered their behaviour when exposed to positive outcomes.

In the study, participants on antidepressants were less able to pick up on how rewards were being given out and how to respond to get more benefits.

This finding, the scientists say, may also explain why patients on long-term use of the pills report issues reaching orgasm during sexual activity.

“Emotional blunting is a common side effect of SSRI antidepressants,” said Professor Barbara Sahakian, senior author on the study at Cambridge.

“In a way, this may be in part how they work – they take away some of the emotional pain that people who experience depression feel, but, unfortunately, it seems that they also take away some of the enjoyment.”

But other experts have warned that patients who are on SSRI medication should not stop taking them based on this research.

The findings are published in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.