5 Common Myths About Antidepressants, Debunked by a Psychiatrist

With the rise of misinformation on social media surrounding mental health, it’s difficult to separate fact from fiction — especially when it comes to antidepressants. In 2019, I struggled with the decision to start Lexapro, a type of antidepressant, due to fear-mongering videos and articles I read online mentioning that using these medications could have negative long term effects. Even though I knew I really needed more support with my worsening depression, I feared going on the medication and becoming too reliant on it.

I’m not the only one who deals with the stigmatization surrounding antidepressants. In August 2020, Katy Perry recalled when she started medication after going through a very dark period of her life.

“I just couldn’t get out of bed for weeks and became clinically depressed and had to get on medication for the first time in my life,” Perry shared during an interview with Apple Music’s Zane Lowe at the time. “I was so ashamed of it. I was like, ‘I’m Katy Perry. I wrote ‘Firework.’ I’m on medication. This is f***ed up.”

While information about antidepressants can sometimes be misconstrued, it’s important to get the facts straight.

According to the Cleveland Clinic, antidepressants are “prescription medications that can help treat depression and other conditions like anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder.” While there are several types of antidepressants, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most common type prescribed.

“Antidepressants are used for lots of different things, but I would say, at a basic level, people can understand that they’re used for depression as well as used for anxiety,” Dr. Jessica Jeffreys, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at UCLA shared.

Keep scrolling to see some myths people commonly think about antidepressants or SSRIs:

Myth 1: Antidepressants make you feel emotionless.

While Dr. Jeffreys shared that emotional blunting, or experiencing a reduced ability to experience emotions, could happen, it “doesn’t actually occur for everybody.”

“I’ll just tell you that it tends to be related to the dose,” she noted. “So if you decrease the dose, that can help if that does occur. And in fact, I see many, many patients who do really well on their SSRI and they don’t experience that as a side effect.”

Aside from decreasing the dose, Everyday Health suggests that people who suffer from emotional blunting can also consider switching their antidepressants, start practicing mindfulness and start exercising to stop the negative effects.

Myth 2: Antidepressants are addictive.

While antidepressants are not considered to be addictive, if you stop the medication abruptly or miss a dose there can be “discontinuation symptoms,” which can be kind of flu-like. According to the Mayo Clinic, people may experience withdrawal symptoms such as anxiety, insomnia or vivid dreams, headaches, dizziness, tiredness, irritability, nausea, electric shock sensations and return of depression symptoms.

“When we do taper them, we taper them really slowly, but they’re not addictive,” Dr. Jeffreys explained.

Myth 3: Taking antidepressants long-term is harmful and dangerous.

While there can be fear regarding staying on antidepressants for an extended period of time, there is usually no problem with staying on the medication for as long as need be.

“I think people can be on them as long as they need to be, and that’s completely fine. We generally say if there’s an episode of depression or anxiety that we recommend that somebody stays on them for a year and then they can try to taper off,” Dr. Jeffreys shared. “[There is] no long term impact.”

Dr. Jeffreys urges her patients to think about the benefits that they are getting from the medication when it comes to deciding whether or not to stop taking it.

“If the medicine is helpful and they find that their mood is better and their energy is better, their sleep is better, and they’re really functioning in a way that they’re happier and they’re living life, [then the medicine is good],” she said. “And that’s an individual calculation that someone can make with their doctor about whether the medicine is a good fit for them in that way.”

Myth 4: Antidepressants always have challenging side effects.

Aside from emotional blunting, many people worry about the potential side effects that could occur such as nausea, fatigue and changes in libido. While these things can happen, Dr. Jeffreys noted that a change in medication can sometimes just do the trick.

“Those are the things that we would always be on the lookout for, and we’d want to make sure that we’re minimizing any side effects that somebody’s experiencing,” she said. “If they are experiencing side effects that are impacting functioning or quality of life then we might say, “OK, this medicine isn’t the right fit.”

Myth 5: Antidepressants can cause a change in personality.

Dr. Jeffreys mentioned if someone was feeling not like themselves or “dull” then it would again be “a reason to try something else.” Antidepressants should not change your personality, but rather help yourself return to their true selves.

“I would love people to think about being empowered to work with a psychiatrist or their primary care doctor about the medication and about what is working well and what isn’t working well,” she added. “The idea is that, over time, somebody’s actually able to be more present [and] I think that would lead to a positive impact on personality.”