To the editors:
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I had a brief experience with Prozac and have several close friends who have used the drug. For all of us there were significant negative side effects. In my case, Prozac took away all the sharp edges of life–not only depression but pleasurable experiences as well. The effect was most noticeable in the areas of sex drive and sexual pleasure, but even life’s small joys–sunsets, the laughter of children, a Michael Jordan breakaway dunk–no longer provided exhilaration.
Even more disconcerting than the drug was my experience with members of the psychiatric profession. Clearly my case was a mild one, but the two people I dealt with assured me that I exhibited all the symptoms of classic depression and would probably commit suicide in a few months unless I stuck with the Prozac program. They were eager to create for me a dependence on the drug and, by extension, the people who write the prescriptions for it. It was eerily similar to the experience I once had when I inquired into Scientology.
