SSRI-Induced Apathy- Beneficial?

Apparently some people have a blunting of emotions and increase in apathy as a result of taking an SSRI. This appears to be happening to me. I'm only on 5 mg of Lexapro, below an effective dose for MDD (which I don't actually have), but it's hit me pretty hard.

This has been me the past week or so:



I give significantly fewer ###$ about pretty much everything. It's been great in some regards. I have significantly less social anxiety and have stopped being so obsessed about how others view me. I also just feel so much happier without all of the excessive worrying. It's freeing to care so little when I'm used to caring so much about everything, especially other people. It has been negative in some ways, like with motivation in school, but I'm finding that my vyvanse that I just started has helped significantly.

However, this is supposed to be a negative side effect not the point of medication. As much as I'm enjoying it, I'm wondering how healthy this is and if I should go off of it. I'm afraid of going the other way in terms of other people. Right now I have zero interest in finding a partner or dating at all. I had sex with someone I met and there was no cuddling or discussion of meeting up later and I felt just fine. I feel detached and uninterested in other people. It's lovely when compared to feeling a need to be with someone and being so easily attached to others.

Is this just me being normal and not so clingy or is this a negative side effect?

How long have you been on the Lexapro? I'm just wondering if it's had enough time to work itself out in your system yet? Also, you could consider trying a higher dose. I know you don't have MDD, but you still might benefit from a higher mg. I would recommend asking your Pdoc about that before giving up on it.

Caribee4me wrote:How long have you been on the Lexapro? I'm just wondering if it's had enough time to work itself out in your system yet? Also, you could consider trying a higher dose. I know you don't have MDD, but you still might benefit from a higher mg. I would recommend asking your Pdoc about that before giving up on it.

Roughly 4 or 5 weeks. I'm pretty sure it's at it's final effect. I'm a bit worried about going higher because of side effects. My appetite has definitely increased and I don't want to deal with sexual dysfunction.

The thing is, it is working. My depression, although mild, is pretty much gone. I don't struggle so much with being alone. I also feel significantly less anxious. So it does appear to be doing what it's supposed to be doing. I'm just unsure about this "side effect".

AmorousDestruction wrote:However, this is supposed to be a negative side effect not the point of medication. As much as I'm enjoying it, I'm wondering how healthy this is and if I should go off of it. I'm afraid of going the other way in terms of other people. Right now I have zero interest in finding a partner or dating at all. I had sex with someone I met and there was no cuddling or discussion of meeting up later and I felt just fine. I feel detached and uninterested in other people. It's lovely when compared to feeling a need to be with someone and being so easily attached to others.

Is this just me being normal and not so clingy or is this a negative side effect?

No, this is the point of the medication. It's effectively a mild tranquilizer that quiets your mind. This is why I'm ambivalent about SSRIs, they don't actually tackle the underlying issues, just cloud your mind sufficiently enough that you become apathetic to your issues. For this reason they may be counter indicated for people with ADHD as this inhibition impairs focus, motivation, and even memory. The upside of course is that it dulls ruminating thoughts and quells anxiety. This will help with many BPD symptoms.

Over time, in the course of several months, you will find this effect fade in a similar way that you become tolerant to other drugs. It is then that you should increase your dose. As you continue doing this, when your dose is very high, there will be a paradoxical energizing effect and the medication may even induce mania. The reasons for this are not clearly understood, but some say it has to do with saturating the SERT proteins and moving on to other transporters - especially NERT.

Be careful AD. It's a intoxicating feeling when you don't care.
But not caring, is it really a status to be pursued. The pic says it all, it's more than not caring, isn't it.
But I'd really avoid SSRI's. They made me not care - not care about anything. And I still suffer the consequences.
Messed up some things..
It would actually be interesting to know what kind of permanent effects they result, because I haven't since then come back to the so-called normal state of mind.
I wish that I would never have taken them.

You are right AD.

The serotonin is the feel good neurotransmitter.

Now Borderline Personality Disorder, is marked by a very high negative affectivity(fear, anxiety). What the SSRI will do is to partially block this negative affects.

But I do think this is part of the cure. People with BPD or GAD(my case) tend to have too much negative affectivity. The SSRI will downregulate this fealings. And as negative emotions are strongs, you will feel less. But that is because you fell too much.

Now one of the problems, is that we are used to our levels of anxiety. I usually take action when my anxiety kicks, this is called a reactive actitude. That always worked for me because, I always felt anxious. Without paying close attention, I would even look like proactive. Now we ve to learn to be more proactive.

But that only if we will. There are many people who are low on anxiety, and happy this way. Probrably they wont make much financial sucess. But that is their way. They are simply laid back.

I also guess, that anxiety levels is one of the main difference between schizoids, and schizotypals/avoidants, but that is another point.

EDIT:
I ve take a good time of psychotherapy alone, before deciding that was the way. But I dont regret, anyway I am still taking them, so I am not sure how it will be when I have to withdraw it.

But I was sure, I was too anxious/neurotic, and at the same time, also know that being neurotic contribute to make you a high achiever. But that would be an empty anchivment, as you cant completely relax.

I used to be on Lexapro for a while but it didn't help with my depression and feelings of emptiness. I was on 10mg but then my two pdocs decided to switch to Cymbalta and I find it much more helpful in terms of relieving anxiety and depression. I'm also on Abilify now. They decided to prescribe it after I talked about occasional auditory hallucinations and paranoid ideation similar to schizophrenia (thinking that someone spies on me through the phone camera, for example) and it's getting better now although I'm just on 5mg of Abilify. Still, paranoia hasn't gone away entirely so I guess I'll get to 10mg.
Anyway, Lexapro didn't give me the effects you describe so doctors decided it didn't work for me.
What you describe seems like the med is actually helping you. Not caring at all is not a good sign, but being less worried about things a d seeking less approval from people are good signs.
Also, SSRIs are well known for decreasing sexual libido, but this is more like a side effect.
Have you talked to your doctor about these things? Sounds like you're not completely satisfied of the effects, but this is how SSRIs work, although Cymbalta is not decreasing my libido and doesn't give me apathy but it only removes part of the anxiety and depression and self-harm ideation.

Maybe you can talk about wanting to switch to another SSRI? It takes time to find the desired effects and the best medication for us.

I'm glad to see you on the forum again though

[quote="conditional_love" ..............
Over time, in the course of several months, you will find this effect fade in a similar way that you become tolerant to other drugs. It is then that you should increase your dose. As you continue doing this, when your dose is very high, there will be a paradoxical energizing effect and the medication may even induce mania. The reasons for this are not clearly understood, but some say it has to do with saturating the SERT proteins and moving on to other transporters - especially NERT.

[/quote]
Interesting. I havent read of this anywhere but it is what I have experienced.

You know, I don't know if the apathy is beneficial or not.

I was on 10mg of Lexapro for about 3-4 months (doc said that was plenty of time for my body to sort it out) and I felt the polar opposite of my usual self. I'm usually very intense, passionate, anxious, on edge, feeling 20 different things in the span of a day.

On Lexapro, not only was I totally apathetic, I felt nothing. I was a robot. It was almost like... The things I would normally freak out about no longer mattered, but it wasn't in a "yeah, this is great! Everything's gonna be okay!" way. It was more of a "no, none of that matters because nothing matters."

To me, it felt dangerous. Sure, I loved not being my normal downward-spiraling self - but I was also afraid of this new robotic self.

I would continue to take it for another month or 2 at least, just to be sure your body has totally adjusted