September 17, 2026 Guest Writer

What are SSRI’s and How Can they Affect Sex? A Starter Guide

SSRI stands for selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. This is the category of prescription drugs that are used to treat depression and anxiety, as well as OCD, PTSD, and some eating disorders. Your brain uses the hormone serotonin to send messages between the nerve cells, before the serotonin is resabsorbed. Depression was previously thought to be caused by low serotonin, however current research is showing that low serotonin does not trigger depression. Instead, SSRIs block the serotonin from being absorbed, which can help depression and anxiety by increasing brain plasticity for emotional processing, leading to longer-term mood improvements.

How do SSRIs affect your sex life?

SSRIs as a category have been found to impact sexual functioning, and it’s challenging to determine the impact as a whole. Some studies say only 30% of people experience sexual dysfunction on SSRIs, while some studies say it’s 70%. When people talk about SSRIs and sex, they’re usually discussing the potential for side effects.

The sexual response cycle has four parts: desire, arousal, orgasm, and resolution. SSRIs can affect each of those areas, including:

Decreased libido - meaning, you struggle to get turned on in the first place and desire sex
Decreased arousal - like struggling to get and maintain an erection, and natural vaginal lubrication
Difficulty orgasming - the orgasm never seems to happen
Duration and intensity of orgasm - when it happens, it’s shorter and less satisfying
Loss of sensation in genital and other sexual erogenous zones, like the penis, vagina, and nipples - meaning, it’s hard to feel what’s actually happening
Specific SSRIs will have different side effects. For example, specific medications have side effects such as erections that last longer than four hours regardless of sexual activity (that’s with paroxetine), with a different medication resulting in spontaneous ejaculation or painful ejaculation in a very small sample (one report for reboxetine). If you don’t have a penis, it’s harder to measure these types of specific outcomes.

This is one of the challenging pieces of medicating SSRIs for depression: these side effects make it so that up to 30% of people prescribed medication don’t want to take it, because joyful, pleasurable sex matters.

What if it’s not the SSRIs?

Here’s where things get a little bit more complicated. While many studies have linked different types of SSRI medication to specific sexual health impacts, it’s difficult to determine if it’s the SSRI specifically, or other factors impacting sexual pleasure.

Depression itself is associated with:

Lower libido
Decreased sexual activity
Decreased erectile excitement
Decreased orgasmic excitement

Not every doctor is asking questions about sexual satisfaction before prescribing SSRIs, making it difficult to determine a baseline for comparison. Other factors that can lead to lower libido include alcohol or substance abuse, other health conditions, and other prescription medications with sexual health related side effects.

All these factors make it difficult to determine if the root cause is the underlying depression, something else, or the SSRI specifically.

SSRI Stigma

Sometimes, the stigma around an SSRI prevents people from trying a medication that will be life-changing. It’s hard to gauge the correct number of people who experience sexual dysfunction due to their SSRIs or the depression, as just mentioned. But it’s not hard to gauge their potential positive impacts on mental health outcomes (they’re evidence backed). People are afraid to try something that will make it challenging to be intimate with a partner, forgetting that depression will make many parts of your life, including your sex life, challenging in a different way.

Welcome to the unpleasant decision making when it comes to mental illness: medication is necessary to live, but sexual satisfaction is necessary for long- term health and relationship satisfaction, and you’re not going to know which option is the best option without experimenting with your body.

So what can you do? Let’s take a look at your options.

What works

To improve sexual satisfaction when taking SSRIs, consider the four phases ( desire, arousal, orgasm, and resolution) of the sexual response cycle. Each phase may have a different solution, which combined will add up to improving your pleasure.

From a medical intervention perspective, this conversation starts with your doctor. Which pieces of your sexual dissatisfaction are SSRI related, and which could be an underlying condition (depression, hormonal)? First, you need to determine what you’re solving for so your solutions will be effective.

For SSRI specific interventions, those must be monitored by your healthcare practitioner. Some of those options include:

Changing your dosage

There is the maximum dosage, and then figuring out what is the minimum dosage you can be on that will still help with your illness. Sometimes, lowering the dosage lowers the side effects.

Switching your medication

You may have the option of switching from an SSRI to a non-SSRI antidepressant, like bupropion (known as Wellbutrin), which is associated with the fewest sexual side effects. There is also the option of experimenting with different SSRIs, as not all side effects are felt by all people. Reboxetine was known as one with no sexual side effects for most people (one study linked reboxetine to one report of spontaneous or painful ejaculation). There are studies linked below that you can send to your doctor to initiate the conversation around which medication is best for your body.

Medication Holidays and Scheduled Sex

In consultation with your therapist and your doctor, discuss the possibility of drug holidays. Different SSRIs take longer to leave the system, so this is drug dependent and doesn’t work for all medications. Plus, there is a risk of depressive symptoms returning.

However, if this is an option for you, and it won’t affect your progress when it comes to managing your depression or anxiety, scheduling sex around your drug holidays can be an option.

Adding Medications

If erections are the issue, sildenafil (Viagra) can be prescribed as an effective treatment. While the benefits of sildenafil haven’t been comprehensively proven for people with vulvas, there was one small trial that found it effective for helping with delayed orgasm responses and lubrication.

Not into adding more medication? 15 mg of saffron (the spice) taken twice a day was found to support erectile functioning for those with a penis, and improve arousal and lubrication after four weeks for people with vulvas.

Use Toys

If your issue is numbness, you can upgrade your existing toys for ones with stronger motors or sensory output. A wand with multiple settings, nipple clamps, vibrating cock rings, there’s a lot of excellent technology you can implement to help you feel what you want to feel.

Plus, if your libido is back but your arousal fluids are not, experimenting with different brands of lube can assist you.

Try Kink

Moving away from penetration based sex will expand the options available, whether you’re trying to have an intimate moment with a long-term partner or have a fun time with someone new. While many people associate kink with pain or degradation, kink encompasses many different kinds of sensory experiences and power dynamics. This can be a great opportunity to explore what kink can offer you.

Intimacy without Penetration

Erections are not mandatory for a fulfilling sexual experience. You can focus on giving pleasure to your partner with tongues, fingers, and toys. You can focus on receiving sensations beyond the erection, like massage, analingus, and more. Consider trying toys that don’t require an erection, like butt plugs, vibrating rings, or strokers that work regardless of how stiff you are. Grinding and rubbing without toys can feel fantastic.

If penetration is important to you for your partner's pleasure, strap-ons are gender neutral and can help create emotional connection during intimacy, or you can use your partner’s favourite toy on them. You can also try “stuffing” which is when you insert your soft penis into your partner's vagina, anus, or mouth, for a penetrative experience.

What doesn’t work

Stopping the SSRIs

In some cases, stopping the SSRIs didn’t solve the sexual dysfunction issues. Stopping your medication entirely may not give you the results you’re hoping for.

Supplements

Non medical/over-the-counter natural supplements are sometimes recommended through word of mouth, and there is conflicting evidence on what works and what doesn’t. For example, ginkgo biloba was found to be helpful in one trial, with better effects in people with a vulva than for people with a penis. However, a later trial with a placebo group found no difference, except the placebo group had improved orgasm satisfaction.

If the supplement works for you, and it doesn’t impact the efficacy of your prescription medication, take it regardless of what the studies say.

What else can you do?

There’s a chance that these interventions, whether medication related or not, will not bring your sexual functioning to the level you wish it was. Working with a therapist can help you with the emotional impacts on your self esteem or self image, as well as help you manage any relationships that are impacted by your current sexual abilities.

If you’re reading this because you have a partner on SSRIs, understand that they are trying their best and this isn’t entirely within their control. You may want to consider seeking support to help you manage your feelings of disappointment or frustration, so you can show up as your best, most supportive partner.

Summary of intervention options:

Here’s your quick list of what to do if your sexual satisfaction is being impacted by your mental health:

Determine the root cause: is it SSRIs, or something else?
With a doctor, consider changing your dosage
With a doctor, consider changing the SSRI
With a doctor, consider medication holidays and scheduled sex
With a doctor, consider adding medications such as sildenafil to improve sexual experiences
Try toys, especially ones that vibrate more powerfully, and lube if relevant
Experiment with kink
Move away from penis based penetrative sex, and explore what the rest of your body has to offer.

If penetration is important to your partner, there are toys for that. If penetration is important to you, try stuffing.

SSRIs can be an essential and life-changing part of mental health care, while sexual wellbeing remains an important aspect of quality of life. If changes in sexual function are affecting you, it is entirely reasonable to make pleasure and sexual health part of the conversation with your healthcare provider, regardless of the reason.

Sources:

About the writer

Rae Szereszewski

Rae is a certified sexual health educator and relationship coach who specialises in providing accurate and realistic education for adults. Her coaching practice is centered in supporting the consensually non monogamous and kinky communities. She also creates non monogamy specific and sex ed content. You can see more of her work on her website!

Next article Types of Lube Explained: Water-Based, Silicone, Hybrid, Aloe + Oil