Antidepressant affair: Paulina Porizkova Super Model Speaks Up in Support of Women Coping with Antidepressants and Anxiety

Super model Paulina Porizkova explained in the Huffington Post her two years of being medicated for anxiety with Lexapro in a story: Ending a Midlife Affair with Meds.

One quote really struck me and made me think about the effects of antidepressants on the the family and loved ones of the person taking anti depressants.

"I used to joke to my friends that after 24 years with my husband, we were, sexually speaking, a finely tuned precision engine. But now it felt as though I was being touched through a barrier, or, in this instance, a thick and cumbersome rug. After a while, it seemed like being intimate was just too much work for too little pay".

The sexual dysfunctio­n attributab­le to antidepres­sants are under reported by Big Pharma and patients are not clearly warned of the impact of this side effect. Prescribin­g medication­s like Effexor that have a 60% chance of erasing a woman's libido is simply irresponsi­ble without full disclosure.

How can an antidepres­sant that wipes out intimacy help a woman who is in a positive healthy relationsh­ip when neither partner is informed of the likelihood that after the female partner is medicated her desire for sex and intimacy will disappear? How should the male partner feel about the loss of his partner's intimacy. Frustration, suspicion of another lover and loss of self esteem due to his beloved partner's rejection are the likely result.

Does he have a right to be warned at the beginning of his partner's antidepres­sant prescripti­on of his pending loss? Should he be prescribed antidepres­sant medication to counter the emotional devastatio­n of this rejections?

Paulina Porizkova's doctor should be commended for presenting antidepressants to her as a temporary measure to reduce her anxiety while she engaged in talk therapy to resolve her problems. Most doctors would have just written the prescriptions for antidepressant indefinitely after a 10 minute sessions in three month intervals without a question about what the patient's real feelings are and what the real issues are that are causing the patient's unhappiness because this produces the most profitable medical insurance reimbursement. Women who can't advocate for themselves are likely to be victims of this practice.

Paulina Porizkova served women well by explaining how women can avoid the emotional price of a lifetime of antidepressants because they are unwilling or unable to take charge of their lives and advocate for themselves.

I'm reading: Antidepressant affair: Paulina Porizkova Super Model Speaks Up in Support of Women Coping with Antidepressants and Anxiety