Alex Clark interviews Danielle Gansky, who says she was first medicated for ADHD at age seven after a teacher raised concerns, and that clinicians subsequently added antidepressants, benzodiazepines, mood stabilisers and antipsychotics before she turned ten. Gansky alleges her parents were not given sufficient information to provide informed consent, and argues that long-term effects of antidepressants on the developing brain are not well studied.
Gansky describes persistent cognitive and emotional symptoms she attributes to long-term SSRI exposure and withdrawal, including memory lapses, difficulty reading and a reduced “inner dialogue”. She recounts being tapered off antidepressants over six weeks in her early twenties, which she says followed standard practice but precipitated a severe withdrawal crisis leaving her bedbound, in emergency departments, and later back on medication. She alleges multiple clinicians dismissed withdrawal as relapse or misdiagnosed it as a mood disorder, and says an antipsychotic trial caused a severe adverse reaction.
The conversation turns to post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD). Gansky claims there is no FDA label warning for potentially persistent sexual and emotional effects, and alleges a citizen petition seeking updated warnings went unanswered for years. She also says HHS and “SAMA” are convening a technical expert panel to develop tapering guidance and that she served on it. Clark adds her own views on informed consent and pregnancy while on SSRIs; these are presented as opinion rather than clinical guidance.
Gansky argues her parents did not receive what she considers adequate risk information when she was medicated as a child, and claims long-term effects on developing brains were not properly studied. She characterises widespread paediatric prescribing as an uncontrolled experiment, a framing that is disputed within psychiatry and regulation.
Read this moment →Discussing post-SSRI sexual dysfunction (PSSD), Gansky says researchers filed a citizen petition asking the US Food and Drug Administration to add label warnings about potentially lasting sexual side-effects after discontinuation. She claims the FDA did not respond within the statutory timeline and that subsequent legal efforts did not resolve the warning issue.
Read this moment →Gansky says HHS and SAMHSA are convening a technical expert panel to develop evidence-based guidance for clinicians on tapering patients off antidepressants. She says she served on the panel and links the effort to Secretary Kennedy’s leadership.
Read this moment →Danielle Gansky tells host Alex Clark she was first placed on ADHD stimulants at age seven after a teacher suggested an evaluation, then says clinicians added antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs in quick succession. She frames the early polypharmacy as the beginning of harm she says has followed her into adulthood.
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