Antidepressants can also dampen positive emotions, study shows

In a study at the University of Copenhagen, participants were less susceptible to positive and negative reactions following three weeks of treatment with a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI).

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A new side effect has been observed in antidepressants. According to a study published on January 23 in the journal Neuropsychopharmacologyselective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly prescribed in case of depressioncan have effects on sensitivity patients facing rewards.

As reported by the British media The Guardianwhich relays the study, the volunteers became less sensitive to positive reactions as negative following three months of treatment withescitalopraman SSRI antidepressant.

The trial followed 66 people between May 2020 and October 2021. Two groups were formed: in the first, healthy participants took escitalopram, and in the second they consumed a placebo without knowing. The treatment lasted an average of 21 days, then the volunteers underwent a series of cognitive tests. Self-assessment questionnaires were also distributed.

Tests measuring attention and Memory showed no difference between the two groups. This is not the case for the tests which measured the way in which they learned the rewards. During one of the exercises, the participants might choose between two options on a screen, A and B. At the beginning, the first resulted in a reward more often than the second. During the test, the probabilities of having a reward changed several times between A and B, and the volunteers had to adapt to this.

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An “emotional blunting”

Result: the SSRI group was, on average, significantly slower to react to these changes. For the authors, this suggests that the drug affected their sensitivity to rewards and their ability to respond accordingly. “[Les antidépresseurs ISRS] take away some of the emotional pain that people who suffer from depressionbut unfortunately it seems thatthey also take away some of the fun”, details Professor Barbara Sahakian of the University of Cambridge, co-author of the study. In addition, the self-assessment questionnaires revealed difficulties in reaching orgasm in the escitalopram group.

Researchers speak of affective dulling. As defined by the Academy of Medicine, “in depressions, this emotional blunting is associated in particular with conative disorders, a generalized feeling of weariness, of disinterest and, in the major forms, to anhedonia, even to a painful affective anesthesia”.

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“Emotional blunting is a common side effect SSRI antidepressants”informed Professor Sahakian.

A brake on the prescription of antidepressants?

However, the discovery of this effect should not not hamper the administration medication, qualify some doctors. For Professor Carmine Pariante of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, who was not involved in the study, “this is an interesting and well-conducted study in healthy subjects, but it does not change our understanding of antidepressants”we read in The National.

For the psychiatrist, “People who are depressed may have trouble feeling positive emotions as happiness, making it difficult to distinguish between disease effects and drug effects. By reducing negative feelings, antidepressants can help people get better.”

For her, it is essential for caregivers who prescribe these treatments to properly inform patients regarding their benefits and drawbacks, because he reminds “their effectiveness may vary from person to person”.

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