shaene

60 to 70% of women taking SSRI antidepressants (Prozac, Zoloft, Lexapro, Celexa) experience difficulty reaching orgasm or complete inability to orgasm as a direct side effect of the medication. the number is not 10%. it is not "some women." it is the majority of users. the medication that treats depression by increasing serotonin simultaneously suppresses the dopamine and norepinephrine pathways that produce orgasm. the drug that fixes the brain's mood system breaks the brain's pleasure system. the mechanism: SSRIs increase serotonin availability in the synaptic cleft. serotonin reduces anxiety and stabilizes mood (the therapeutic effect). serotonin also directly suppresses dopamine release in the mesolimbic pathway (the reward/pleasure pathway) and reduces norepinephrine signaling (the arousal pathway). orgasm requires both dopamine (the buildup of pleasure) and norepinephrine (the physical arousal response). SSRIs suppress both while treating depression through a third pathway. the mood improves. the orgasm disappears. the delay or absence of orgasm on SSRIs is not psychological. it is pharmacological. the drug is chemically reducing the neurotransmitter activity required for the orgasm reflex. the woman who cannot orgasm on Zoloft is not "in her head." she is experiencing a documented, predictable, dose dependent side effect that her prescribing doctor may not have mentioned because sexual side effects are historically under discussed in psychiatric medication counseling. the cruelest irony: many women develop depression partially because of relationship dissatisfaction, body image issues, or sexual trauma. the medication treats the mood but eliminates the sexual function that is often central to the recovery. the woman starts feeling emotionally better but loses the ability to orgasm, which creates a new source of frustration, shame, and relationship strain. the drug treats one wound and opens another. the practical reality: if she is on an SSRI and struggling to orgasm, the first step is not a new technique. the first step is a conversation with her prescribing doctor about alternatives. bupropion (Wellbutrin) is an antidepressant that works through dopamine and norepinephrine rather than serotonin and has a significantly lower rate of sexual side effects. switching medications or adding bupropion alongside the SSRI is a well documented clinical strategy. the solution exists. it requires a medical conversation, not a bedroom adjustment. for women who remain on SSRIs by choice or necessity: higher stimulation intensity (vibrators), longer foreplay (30+ minutes), and timing sex 8 to 12 hours before the next SSRI dose (when blood levels are lowest) can improve orgasm accessibility. the strategies compensate for the suppressed neurotransmitter levels without replacing them. if she can't orgasm and she's on an SSRI, the answer is not "try harder" or "relax" or a new position. the answer is that her medication is pharmacologically suppressing the neurochemistry of orgasm in the majority of users and nobody told her that when they wrote the prescription. the conversation needs to move from the bedroom to the doctor's office. the solution is medical, not sexual.

I do strangulation exams as part of my job. I have taken extensive training in strangulation and am qualified to testify as an expert in strangulation cases. The general public has no idea how bad this epidemic has become, how many women and girls this is happening to, or how dangerous this is. I share facts about it sometimes like men who strangle women are twice as likely to be involved in a mass shooting or to kill a cop. Women who are strangled by their partners are 750% more likely to be killed by that partner. I tell people that death by strangulation can occur in just minutes, under a minute if you hit the right nerve bundles that lead to certain arrhythmias. I also tell them that a woman can die from a strangulation event up to one year after the event and that a pregnant woman who has been strangled is at high risk of pregnancy loss for weeks after the strangulation event. Strangulation can lead to brain damage, physical disability, stroke, pregnancy loss, and death. I tell people that there is no safe way to strangle and that nobody has the ability to consent to being murdered, and consent is not an excuse for murder, if someone were to consent to this it is incumbent on the would be murderer to use self discipline and restraint, because a person’s “consent” to being murdered is not going to be recognized by any court as a legitimate excuse. Nobody can consent to being killed. When I tell people these things, a very few are appreciative, mostly women, some are interested, men and women, and some attack me for being stupid and not knowing what I am talking about, apparently days of professional training and hundreds of exams performed mean nothing to the “experts” of X. Those that attack are mostly men. Some argue with me about dumb things, like my insistence to call strangulation what it is. Strangulation is not choking, choking is not strangulation, these are two different types of ways to block an airway but they are not the same. That is what people argue with me about the most. They insist on using incorrect language and then provide me with a weak google link picture of a choke hold to try to prove it’s the same. So then it becomes me explaining that a choke hold is called a chokehold but it is not choking it is strangulation and that blows their minds and I am met with silence or swears. This is an incredibly important issue that needs to be discussed but it is very contentious and the defenders of strangulation can turn into rabid dogs very quickly. Anyway, I just wanted to tell you that I really appreciate the effort you are taking here, that you are raising awareness and that you are using accurate language and data. It’s really important that we change the narrative around this subject. I would like to share this resource with you, I’m not sure if you are aware of them or not, but this was the group that did my training on strangulation. They go all over the US teaching medical professionals and law enforcement about strangulation and they have a ton of information and resources on their website. You might find them useful. Thank you for talking about this. strangulationtraininginstitu…

NYC Rapper Drew Empire @DrewEmpire718 wears N95s and organizes mask-required shows to stay healthy and to show solidarity to marginalized people with disabilities, compromised immune systems and #LongCOVID. Support #MaskTogetherAmerica #CleanAir

Your brain at 2 AM writing a paper you started at 10 PM is operating in a neurochemical state that most productivity systems spend thousands of dollars trying to replicate. Sleep deprivation suppresses your prefrontal cortex. That's the region responsible for self-criticism, second-guessing, and the voice that says "this paragraph isn't good enough." At 2 AM, that voice goes quiet. Not because you've achieved some zen state. Because the hardware running it is shutting down for the night and you won't let it. Meanwhile the deadline is dumping norepinephrine and cortisol into your system, which narrows your attention to a single point. Your brain physically cannot multitask in that state. No checking your phone. No opening a new tab. The stress response has commandeered every available resource and pointed it at the Google Doc. Lowered inhibition plus chemically forced single-task focus. That combination is almost identical to what Csikszentmihalyi documented across 30 years of flow state research. Clear goal, immediate feedback, challenge matched to skill. A 12-page paper due in 8 hours hits all three criteria by accident. The lo-fi beats matter more than people think. Repetitive audio at 60-70 BPM synchronizes with resting heart rate and suppresses novelty-seeking circuits. You stop hearing it within minutes. It becomes an auditory wall that blocks interruption without costing you any cognitive load. It's the cheapest sensory deprivation chamber ever built. And the black coffee at midnight is pharmacologically different from your morning cup. Your adenosine levels have been building all day, so the caffeine is fighting a much stronger sleep signal. The subjective experience of "wired but calm" at 1 AM is a different drug interaction than alert-at-9-AM. Same molecule, completely different neurochemical environment. Every semester, twice a semester, four years straight. That's 40 sessions of accidental deep work before anyone had a name for it. The grade was an A- because the conditions were perfect. Not despite the chaos. Because of it.