What Everyone Needs to Know About Antidepressants

Dr. Joseph Mercola - Take Control of Your Health

Briana Mercola

Alternative Health, Health & Fitness

4.6 • 1.6K Ratings

🗓️ 30 January 2026

⏱️ 8 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

SSRI antidepressants are one of the most harmful medications on the market, and because of just how many people they are given to (often for no good reason as only a minority of patients benefit from SSRIs) they have had a profound effect on the consciousness of our entire society
This article will review some of the more common side effects of SSRIs (and SNRIs), such as losing the ability to have sex, becoming numb to life, becoming severely agitated or imbalanced (sometimes to the point one becomes violently psychotic or commits suicide), losing your mind, and the development of birth defects
Like many other stimulant drugs (e.g., cocaine) SSRIs can be very difficult to quit. Because of this, patients frequently get severely ill when they attempt to stop them (withdrawals affect roughly half of SSRI users). Worse still, it is often extremely difficult to withdraw from them and very few doctors know how to safely facilitate this
Due to widespread denial in psychiatry about the issues with their drugs the common SSRI side effects (e.g., withdrawals) are often misinterpreted as a sign the individual had a pre-existing mental illness and needs more of the drug — which all too often then leads to catastrophic events for the over-medicated patient
This article will provide the critical information SSRI patients are rarely warned about and resources for patients already trapped in challenging mental health situations

Transcript

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0:00.0	Have you ever been told an antidepressant would simply make you feel better, only to find yourself numb, agitated, or wondering why quitting feels impossible?
0:10.2	Welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. Stay informed with quick, easy-to-listen summaries of our latest articles, perfect for when you're on the go.
0:18.4	No reading required. Subscribe for free atmer Mercola.com for the latest health insights.
0:23.5	Hello and welcome to Dr. Mercola's cellular wisdom. I'm Ethan Foster.
0:28.2	Today we're examining what you're rarely told about SSRI and SNRI antidepressants.
0:35.0	The frequency of side effects, the reality of withdrawal, and the serious
0:39.2	risks that have too often been minimized or dismissed.
0:42.5	I'm Alara Sky. Our aim is to lay out clear facts drawn from reported data and patient experiences.
0:49.0	You'll hear what percentages people actually report for sexual dysfunction, emotional
0:53.2	blunting, agitation,
0:55.0	and how often withdrawals strike when you try to stop?
0:58.0	When you hear that only a minority of patients benefit,
1:02.0	it reframes the everyday prescribing you see around you.
1:05.0	SSR is, are widely promoted, yet surveys show many users don't feel like themselves, feel emotionally
1:12.4	numb or experience agitation. In one survey of 1,829 antidepressant users, 62% reported sexual
1:21.4	difficulties, 60% felt emotionally numb, 52% felt not like themselves. 47% experienced agitation. And 39% cared less about others.
1:35.7	Many also said they were not warned these effects could happen. You're also not told how shaky
1:40.4	some of the approval era data was. Early trials for drugs like Prozac faced serious problems, and equal dropout rates between
1:49.1	drug and placebo groups point to benefits that did not outweigh side effects for many participants.
1:54.8	In a review of Paxil trials, 77 percent more people on the drug stopped due to side effects, and 155% more stopped because of suicidal tendencies compared to placebo.
2:06.6	That matches what a lot of you notice in real life.
2:09.6	People often choose to stop taking these drugs.
	...

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