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by Dr Ursula Werneke
Last updated: June 2019
Sexual dysfunction is frequently experienced during a depressive illness and may be associated with three precipitating or maintaining factors:
All three factors can influence each other so that it may often be impossible to work out the contribution of each component, thus it is difficult to identify and quantify the adverse effects of antidepressants alone. Notwithstanding, antidepressant-induced sexual dysfunction remains an important issue in the clinical management of depression.
In routine practice, clinicians may find it difficult to ask patients about sexual function. This may be due to time constraints, a certain uneasiness in approaching the topic or lack of training in this area. Conversely, patients may not volunteer to talk about such problems even if they are significantly affected. Many patients do not realise that such problems may not just be a result of the illness but can also be treatment-related.
The aim of this module is to familiarise clinicians with a systematic approach to the diagnosis of sexual dysfunction associated with antidepressant treatment.
Start the module
If you like this module, you may also be interested in:
Antidepressants and psychosexual dysfunction: Part 2 – treatment by Dr Ursula Werneke
Complementary and alternative medicine in psychiatry by Ursula Werneke
Managing the adverse effects of clozapine by Dr James MacCabe and Dr Jennifer Brook
Pharmacological treatment of resistant depression – an overview by Professor Philip J. Cowen
Essentials of Physical Health in Psychiatry (book from RCPsych Publications)