Q. You had mentioned in the answers to one of the questions posted on the website that there has been some study about possible decreased cognitive ability as a side-effect of prozac and other anti-depressants. Could you please give me any pointers to this study? It seems like I have the exact same problem as the person who posted the original question: I had been on Prozac for about two years and Zoloft for a year and now I find that my analytical ability has been severely compromised. While, as you suggested, this might be due to other factors like partial treatment, I would be interested in knowing what researchers have found out thus far in this regard.

A. I do not have any published trials to refer you to. Sorry. It is a clinical observation that all of us psychiatrists talk about, but no one writes much about. Probably we opt not to address it, because other than acknowledging it, not much is usually done. Sometimes Effexor has less of a problem than the SRIs. We postulate this is secondary to its concomitant noradrenergic and dopaminergic properties.

As a personal research note, we are trying some work with a medication used in narcolepsy called Provigil with encouraging results, but the work is in its infancy so I mention it only if you are in a situation where your doctor may wish to give it a try. If you do try it, and it works, let me know.