Daryl Brown: Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction Medical Error Interviews

We have all probably heard or read about how antidepressants can cause sexual dysfunction such as decreased libido, erectile dysfunction, decreased response to sexual stimuli, and delayed or absent orgasm. Given how widespread the use of antidepressants are, you may have personal experience with an antidepressant affecting your sexual function.
What you may not know is that research consistently finds that sexual dysfunction continues in the majority of people even after they stop taking the medication. This is known as Post SSRI Sexual Dysfunction, or PSSD. 
Less frequently, another form of sexual dysfunction may continue to manifest even after discontinuation of the medication: Persistent Genital Arousal Disorder (PGAD). This is essentially the opposite of PSSD, with PGAD causing a relentless sense of arousal and discomfort in the g******s, but without any accompanying feeling of desire. 
So this is what can happen to adults. What happens when children are given antidepressants, right through their puberty? How does it affect their sexual function?
In this episode I interview Daryl Brown about his experience with the mental health care system when he started to be medicated with antidepressants when he was 9 years old - even though he wasn’t depressed - and medicated with antipsychotics, even though he wasn’t having psychosis.  Daryl shares how it has affected his sexual function, and by extension his sense of self and his intimate relationships.
Daryl asks the tough questions of the medical system: How could he, a mere child, have been given multiple medications - for over a decade - that provided no benefit, only harm? And how is that doctors continue to deny antidepressants can cause sexual dysfunction after they have been discontinued, in spite of research and patient reports confirming the harm?

SHOW NOTES
OCD and Tourette's syndrome
0:07:15
Daryl grew up in a suburb of London (United Kingdom) with 2 good parents, they are not together, but lucky to have them - a mix of nature and the city - 2 older siblings, 1 younger sibling
0:08:15
But missed a lot of family time due to mental health issues and hospitals - and his behaviour changed on the psychiatric drugs - and he went to special needs school far away - Daryl had some movement disorder and phobias since he was a baby
0:09:15
His brother noticed Daryl had strange movements as a baby and told others that Daryl had Tourette's Syndrome before he was diagnosed - Daryl got much sicker when he was about 9 years old, his OCD (obsessive compulsive disorder) and Tourette's got disabling worse
0:10:15
Daryl OCD caused him to spin around, and do repetitive rituals in a particular way - if it didn't feel like it went right, he would have to start the ritual over again - when it got really bad it was life consuming - he lost a lot of sleep worrying - a common feature
0:11:15
OCD symptoms was frustrating for Daryl, when it got out of control - Tourette's manifested has a lot of arm movements, leg movements, constantly parts of his body moving, even if people couldn't see what was happening with his toes and fingers, known has motor tics - Daryl also had a vocal tic of clearing his throat and making a weird noise
0:13:15
When Daryl's OCD and Tourette's got really bad, it was hard to live with the symptoms, but when mild they felt like a normal part of Daryl's life - for Daryl, only when its a the extremes does is it bothersome, and that may sound strange to some people - it doesn't interfere too much
0:14:15
Daryl remembers that his school was pushed around his phobias - other kids were yelled at, Daryl was yelled at when he coloured outside the lines - he was constantly being punished and he got scared at the way the other children were shouted at as well - they pushed him really hard about his phobias, and he tried really hard to break through and he did, but it was very hard - it all became very stressful and made everything a lot worse - at one point he ran away fr