Emotional Blunting in Patients With Major Depressive Disorder: A Brief Non-systematic Review of Current Research

Summary & key facts

Researchers reviewed existing studies about emotional blunting in people with major depression. They report that many patients notice a reduction in feeling—sometimes linked to taking antidepressant medicine—and that this numbness is a common reason people stop their drugs. There is no clear medical definition or agreed cause yet, but higher drug doses may make blunting more likely. Doctors often respond by lowering the dose or switching medications, and the researchers say we need better tests and interviews to study this problem.

Key facts:

• Emotional blunting means a reduced or dampened emotional response that many people with major depression report.
• This numb feeling is often reported by patients as a side effect of antidepressant medicines and is one of the common reasons people stop taking them.
• Researchers say there is no standard medical definition for antidepressant-induced emotional blunting right now.
• Current studies suggest that higher doses of antidepressants are more likely to be linked with emotional blunting.
• In practice, many clinicians try lowering the antidepressant dose or switching to a different drug when patients report blunting.
• The review notes that researchers need better clinical assessments and interviews aimed specifically at measuring antidepressant-related emotional blunting.

Abstract

Emotional blunting is frequently reported by patients with major depressive disorder (MDD) and has been identified as one of the most prominent side effects of antidepressants leading to medication discontinuation. However, antidepressant-induced emotional blunting remains largely unexplored-there lacks a clinical definition of this condition, and no agreeing conclusion has been reached regarding its etiology. Current research suggests that the onset of diminished emotional response may be related to antidepressant dose, with higher doses being more likely to induce emotional blunting. Consequently, most clinicians either reduce the dose or switch to another drug when treating this symptom. Overall, more comprehensive clinical assessments or interviews specifically designed to evaluate antidepressant-induced emotional blunting in MDD patients are in need to elucidate the neuropsychological mechanisms behind this increasingly prevalent symptom.

Topics

Anxiety, Depression, Psychometrics, Treatment, Cognitive Processes Electroconvulsive Therapy Studies Treatment of Major Depression

Categories

Health Sciences Medicine Pharmacology

Tags

Antidepressant Anxiety Clinical psychology Cognition Depression (economics) Discontinuation Economics Etiology Macroeconomics Major depressive disorder Medicine Neuropsychology Psychiatry Psychology

Conditions & symptoms

Anxiety Depression Feeling disconnected from others Lack of energy or motivation Sadness or low mood