Anybody--mac? CT? Alucard? Theca? know if any studies have been done on the effect that Paxil has on the levels of empathy and compassion in people who take it? I know two people who are on it, and while it has done a great job with taking care of the depression in both people, they seem to have less empathy and compassion than they did before they started taking the medication
Posted by katharina (Member # 827) on :
My cousin took it, and while he was taking it, he felt better, but told his wife... some not flattering things. Acted very narcissisticly. Not good.
I won't blame it on the drug - he's fairly narcissistic to begin with - but I think it took down that last vestige of civilization in his brain.
He went off it a couple months later and has been kicking himself ever since. I realize that's just an anecdote, but that's my only experience with it.
Posted by ClaudiaTherese (Member # 923) on :
All the selective serotoninin reuptake inhibitors have anecdotally been reported (repeatedly) to "numb out" at least some people who take them. Paxil is of a different chemical structure than other SSRIs, though, and whatever it does that makes it particularly helpful in some cases of Social Anxiety Disorder (one of the indications) may well make it even more likely to tamp down even appropriate levels of concern about others.
I've heard it described like being in a bit of a fog -- nothing is sharp-edged, nothing really matters too keenly. A big relief from suicidality/depression, but nowhere near the "happy drug" that some dismiss anti-depressants as being.
[ August 01, 2003, 12:53 PM: Message edited by: ClaudiaTherese ]
Posted by Alucard... (Member # 4924) on :
First of all, I apologize. I have been sick the last 3 days and have not been on Hatrack at all.
Paxil (paroxetine) is most structurally similar to Prozac. The biggest difference between the two is that Paxil has a 24 hour half-life and Prozac has a 72 hour half life.
The side effects that have been demonstrated in trials can be found in the literature, but I will try to summarize them here. The values are the incidences of occurance and the percentage points over the placebo group:
Body as a whole:
Trauma: 3% (+2 over baseline)
Dermatological:
Sweating: 9-14% depending on Condition Treated (3-8% over baseline)
Nervous System:
Somnolescence: 22% (+15% over baseline) Dizziness: 12% (+5% over baseline) Tremor: 11% (+10% over baseline) Decreased Libido: 12% (11% over baseline) Abnormal Dreams: 4% (+3% over baseline) ***Depersonalization: 3% (there was none reported in placebo groups!!!) Abnormal Ejaculation: 28% (+27% over baseline) Impotence: 8% (+7% over baseline)
This data is not very helpful to your specific question, but you VERY LIKELY will NOT find a study that specifically measures empathy and compassion. Practically speaking, that would be very difficult to measure quantitatively.
In my practical experience, there is a group of patients that describe their condition from Paxil therapy as "not hooked-up". This complaint is more frequent in males, but the general idea is that life events that normally make a person feel elated or upset or happy or sad do not elicit these "expected" emotions while on Paxil. This feeling of not being "hooked up" is also meant to imply there are some symptoms of decreased sexual libido etc...as shown above.
CT mentioned that Paxil is used to treat Social Anxiety Disorder (shyness, basically). What is difficult to determine is where there is a change in mood following drug therapy and where there is an expression of an undesirable behavior associated with the underlying condition. This is sometimes difficult or impossible to determine.
In a nutshell, MOST patients taking an SSRI have more positive results than negative ones. However, what concerned me after reviewing some literature is the 3% of patients on Paxil that experience depersonalization. I am thinking this is what you may be seeing as a side-effect, and hope this info helps.
Posted by Trisha the Severe Hottie (Member # 6000) on :
Just scanning the archives and wondered if there was any follow up to be had on this.
Posted by Noemon (Member # 1115) on :
One of the two went off of it, and returned to their old level of empathy. The other is still on it, and while she is more empathetic than she was when the drug was new to her system, I would say that she is still less empathetic than she was before she started taking it.