Apathy, insomnia, weight gain, agitation and anxiety are some of the most common side symptoms of antidepressants. Now, with new research, it is suspected that alexithymia (inability to recognize one’s own emotions) could be a recurrently ignored secondary symptom.
The data available in the . In it they detail that they compared 57 people undergoing psychopharmacological treatment with antidepressants and a control group of 441 who were not taking this type of medication. Among the antidepressants used by the participants were: fluoxetine, sertraline, paroxetine, citalorpam, clomipramine, among others.
When acquiring the ability to identify their emotions, it was found that patients on serotonergic antidepressants had greater difficulties than the control group in identifying their emotions and usually expressed it like this: “When I am upset, I don’t know if I am angry, sad or scared.” ” “I don’t know what’s going on inside me.”
Although the relationship seems quite clear, the authors took the opportunity to specify the scope of their study and explain that their data do not definitively prove that alexithymia is an effect of antidepressants. Another possible explanation would be that psychiatrists are more likely to prescribe these medications to people with poor ability to identify their emotions and explain how they feel in a clinical evaluation.
As usually happens in this type of studies, it is very difficult to draw a line that allows establishing causality between a medication and a symptom as subjective as alexithymia.
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Study references:
Kajanoja, J., Scheinin, N.M., Karukivi, M., Karlsson, L., & Karlsson, H. (2018). Is antidepressant use associated with difficulty identifying feelings? A brief report. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 26(1), 2-5.
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