May/June 1997 Issue

Getting in the Mood

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On the way to elevating mood, antidepressants have a very depressing side effect: Up to half of users suffer loss of libido, erection impairment, decreased vaginal lubrication, difficulty reaching orgasm, or loss of pleasure from orgasm.

If antidepressants are killing your sex life, ask your doctor about lowering the dose of the medication you take or about switching to Wellbutrin, the antidepressant least likely to cause sex problems. Or ask about the pros and cons of the method recommended by psychiatrist Anthony Rothschild of the University of Massachusetts Medical Center — drug-free weekends. Rothschild studied 30 couples, each with one partner suffering sexual side effects from Prozac-type drugs. He advised them to go drug-free from Thursday morning to Sunday at noon. Among those taking Paxil and Zoloft, half reported better sex over the weekend. Only two said they felt more depressed. But among those taking Prozac, only one reported sexual improvement, probably because Prozac takes longer to clear from the body.

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WE CAME UP SHORT.

We just wrapped up a shorter-than-normal, urgent-as-ever fundraising drive and we came up about $45,000 short of our $300,000 goal.

That means we're going to have upwards of $350,000, maybe more, to raise in online donations between now and June 30, when our fiscal year ends and we have to get to break-even. And even though there's zero cushion to miss the mark, we won't be all that in your face about our fundraising again until June.

So we urgently need this specific ask, what you're reading right now, to start bringing in more donations than it ever has. The reality, for these next few months and next few years, is that we have to start finding ways to grow our online supporter base in a big way—and we're optimistic we can keep making real headway by being real with you about this.

Because the bottom line: Corporations and powerful people with deep pockets will never sustain the type of journalism Mother Jones exists to do. The only investors who won’t let independent, investigative journalism down are the people who actually care about its future—you.

And we hope you might consider pitching in before moving on to whatever it is you're about to do next. We really need to see if we'll be able to raise more with this real estate on a daily basis than we have been, so we're hoping to see a promising start.

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