PAYTON

Age: 25

"It all began when I was 19, just on the cusp of turning 20, and going through a tough time dealing with a break-up.

I've always placed my trust in doctors, police officers, firefighters, and other authority figures, assuming they were smarter and had life figured out while I considered myself dumb. Little did I know that this belief would lead to the biggest mistake of my life.

Now, at almost 26 years old, I look back and realize that my life took a turn for the worse back in 2018 when I decided to take Lexapro for a minor bout of depression and anxiety I was experiencing at the time.

At that time, all I wanted was a quick fix, and without considering potential consequences, I started taking Lexapro.

During a trip with my friends, I hooked up with a girl, and it took literally an hour of forced stimulation to reach climax. Upon returning home, I decided to stop taking Lexapro, assuming everything would be fine.

I continued with life. However, I started experiencing strange sexual problems that I brushed off as normal aspects of life: from premature ejaculation to prolonged ejaculation that made sex unfulfilling.

In 2020, I sought help from my psychiatrist again and was prescribed a combination of Wellbutrin and Lexapro. Shortly after, I felt like a zombie and decided to stop taking any antidepressants until 2023.

Unaware that I had a milder form of PSSD, I returned to the same psychiatrist for help. In less than five minutes, he prescribed me Zoloft (sertraline) without discussing potential side effects or that it could fully chemically castrate me.

Within hours of taking Zoloft for the first time, my penis went completely numb, as if it had been injected with anesthesia. It took nearly an hour to reach climax, and it was completely pleasureless.

The girl I was with was frustrated, and I felt helpless as my body and mind had changed without my consent. I stopped the medication quickly, hoping to return to normal, but it's now been 160 days since I stopped taking Zoloft.

I now live in a strange state of emotional indifference, feeling utterly numb even though I suffer in every aspect of my life. While I can navigate life logically, the absence of emotional depth makes it nearly impossible to enjoy it fully. It feels like there's no purpose.

Our community desperately needs a treatment for this condition. If I was properly informed about the potential risks, I would have never taken these pills."