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Sexual dissatisfaction is linked with higher rates of depression.

Antidepressants frequently cause sexual side effects that are the lead reason patients stop their medications.

Some antidepressants cause fewer sexual problems than others.

Pine bark extract shows promise in reducing antidepressant-related sexual dysfunction.

Science knows this for certain: There are many possible causes of depression. And one of them is sexual dissatisfaction.

For example, a study in the International Journal of Impotence Research, involving more than 27,000 men and women aged 40 to 80 found that participants with sexual dysfunction were more likely to report depressive symptoms. [1]

In a similar study, published in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, lower sexual satisfaction was linked to more depressive symptoms. [2]

And here is what makes those findings so troubling: Sexual dysfunction is a common side effect of antidepressants. In other words, antidepressants have a side effect that can worsen depression.

The scientific literature linking antidepressants to sexual problems is strong.

A paper in Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety showed that six out of ten people taking an antidepressant develop sexual dysfunction [3] and 60 percent may be an underestimate.

In one study cited in the paper, 93 percent of men and women taking the tricyclic antidepressant Anafranil (clomipramine) suffered from either partial or total anorgasmia, the inability to have an orgasm.

In one of the most recent studies on antidepressants and sexual dysfunction, published in BMC Psychiatry in April 2025, researchers found that 89% of women and 85% of men on antidepressants suffered with sexual dysfunction. Talk about depressing. [4]

The types of sexual........

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