Wide release date: June 5, 2025
Episode Summary: Dr. David Healy critiques modern medicine, focusing on SSRIs and psychiatric medicine, including: how pharmaceutical companies manipulate clinical trial data, ghostwrite studies, and influence medical practice, often ignoring patient experiences; highlighting issues like post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), the immediate sensory effects of SSRIs, and their potential to induce suicidal or violent behavior; challenging the reliance on randomized controlled trials (RCTs) over individual patient reports; and more.
About the guest: David Healy, MD, PhD, a psychiatrist and psychopharmacologist, has decades of experience researching the serotonin system and SSRIs, working across Ireland, the UK, Canada, and the US. He is a professor at McMaster University and a vocal critic of pharmaceutical industry practices.
Discussion Points:
SSRIs cause near-immediate sensory effects, like genital numbing, in most people.
Post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD) can persist for years or decades after stopping the drug, affecting many long-term users.
Healy argues RCTs prioritize averages over individual experiences, often missing serious side effects like suicidality.
Pharmaceutical companies ghostwrite studies and manipulate data, with journals like the New England Journal of Medicine publishing misleading articles.
Serotonin theory of depression lacks evidence.
Industry tactics include dismissing patient reports as anecdotes and using high doses in trials to mask weak efficacy.
SSRIs can increase suicide risk, not just during initiation but also when adjusting doses or withdrawing, as seen in cases like the Aurora movie theater shooting.
Regulatory bodies like the FDA often fail to investigate adverse effects due to bureaucratic processes and lack of follow-up.
Healy emphasizes doctors’ failure to prioritize patient observations, driven by industry-influenced standards of care.
Related episode:
M&M 88: Depression, Serotonin, SSRIs, Psychiatry & Social Media | Joanna Moncrieff
*Not medical advice.
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Episode transcript below.
Episode Chapters:
00:00:00 Intro
00:04:41 Critique of Western History Narrative
00:09:19 Internet & Information Democratization
00:15:14 SSRI Development & Medical Observation
00:23:42 Early SSRI Research & Patient Insights
00:31:11 Nature of Evidence in Medicine
00:37:52 Immediate SSRI Effects & Misconceptions
00:45:16 Acute SSRI Sensory Impacts
00:53:13 Long-term SSRI Side Effects
01:00:31 SSRI Trial Design & Industry Tactics
01:09:32 Data Manipulation in Drug Approval
01:16:15 Post-SSRI Sexual Dysfunction (PSSD)
01:24:47 PSSD Manifestations & Prevalence
01:36:19 SSRI Withdrawal Challenges
01:44:02 Ghostwriting & Industry Influence
01:51:41 SSRIs, Suicide, & Violence
02:03:01 Final Thoughts on Psychiatric Medicine
Full AI-generated transcript below. Beware of typos & mistranslations!
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