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iQuestions Expert, Michael Sytsma 
 
 
Question: 
 
I've been depressed and have been experiencing lower sex drive. Are 
these symptoms related? 
 
Answer: 
 
Yes, definitely, depression and low sex-drive often go very much hand-
in-hand. 
 
In fact, our research tells us that it’s almost a one-to-one. If you are 
experiencing depression, your sex drive probably will be decreased. If 
you are experiencing a lower sex drive, there is a good chance that 
you are depressed.  
 
We’re not really sure what that’s about, if one of them is causing the 
other one— or, more likely, there is a third issue that is going on, and 
these two things, your depression and your low sex-drive, are 
symptomatic of whatever that third thing is that often even physicians 
haven’t identified yet. 
 
The other thing that comes into play, though, is if you have been told 
you are depressed by your healthcare practitioner, there’s a good 
chance you are on an anti-depressant. A huge number of people who 
go on anti-depressants— often over the 90% mark— experience an 
impact to their sex life, most commonly in the desire arena. 
 
So, if you are on an anti-depressant, it may be decreasing your sexual 
desire, as well. The trick is to go back and talk to your physician about 
it. There may be things he can do. Sometimes, it’s just changing the 
 
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dosage, decreasing it to the point that you are experiencing the 
benefits of the anti-depressant without some of the side-effects. 
 
Sometimes, just switching to a slightly different drug can make an 
impact, even within the same category of anti-depressants.  
 
Sometimes, we find that we can add another drug to that. Even some 
herbals tend to help for some people. 
 
So, go back to your doctor and talk about what you are experiencing. 
This is very common, but there are things we can do to help overcome 
it. 
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