What Is Emotional Blunting, and Do Antidepressants Cause It?

Researchers are working to determine if "Emotional Blunting" is a symptom of depression or a side effect of medication.

By Emilie Le Beau Lucchesi
Jan 16, 2023 2:00 PM
depression
(Credit:tommaso79/Shutterstock)

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Living with depression is a daily struggle for many people. An estimated 16 million Americans are affected each year, and one in six Americans will experience depression at some point in their life, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

There are options for managing depression, including therapy and antidepressant medications. In the past few decades, more clinicians and their patients have turned to antidepressant medications, and prescriptions soared by 400 percent between late 1988 and 2008. Before the pandemic, 13.2 percent of U.S. adults took antidepressants.

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