THE i PAPER 
'Antidepressants ruined my sex life': The debilitating reality of PSSD

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Simon Wright was prescribed citalopram, an antidepressant, in 2012 for a bout of intense anxiety that enveloped him after he finished university (he now attributes that to nicotine withdrawal from quitting smoking). For the next decade, he was on and off the pills switching between different doses and varieties.

Mr Wright is part of the immense and growing number of people who have taken antidepressants: one in seven people in England are estimated to take them, according to NHS figures. But unbeknown to him, he had also joined a smaller, relatively unknown cohort: those suffering with PSSD (post-SSRI sexual dysfunction).

Thousands of users claim that selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), commonly prescribed antidepressants, have left them with devastating, long-lasting side effects. Sufferers describe symptoms as “hell on earth”, robbing them of “everything that makes us human not robots”.

THE i PAPER 
I proved London air pollution killed my daughter - she'd be proud of me

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Fourteen years ago, Rosamund Adoo-Kissi-Debrah knew next to nothing about air pollution, nor its awful power.

She is now an expert on the subject matter; one of the most renowned advocates for clean air in the world. She has advised the Mayor of London and successive UK governments, and her work has earnt her a series of accolades: World Health Organisation (WHO) BreatheLife Ambassador; Honorary Fellow of the British Science Association; a European Lung Foundation award; numerous Women of the Year nods. Her portrait hangs in the National Portrait Gallery.

But the path here has been paved with pain and loss. And as laudable as her many achievements are, it is the fact that she experienced every parent’s darkest fear, and chose to harness it so that other families might not suffer the same fate, that makes Rosamund remarkable.

THE i PAPER 
‘It’s destroyed us’: Parents of children with long Covid accused of making it up

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INVESTIGATION - Parents of children with long Covid claim they have been accused of faking or exaggerating their child’s illness, leading to social services’ involvement and, in some instances, court cases and the threat of the child’s removal from the home.

Doctors struggle to diagnose the condition due to its complex range of symptoms and often treat it as a psychological rather than physical disease, with parents telling i they have been accused of child abuse and of fabricating the illness as a result.

THE i PAPER 
‘Our lives are shattered’: Teachers legal fight for long Covid support

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Hundreds of teachers with long Covid are suing the Department for Education (DfE) over its handling of the pandemic within schools, i can reveal.

More than 120 teachers are part of the joint legal action over alleged failures to protect teachers working in schools during the pandemic and a lack of support for those who say they have been left disabled and unable to work as a result of contracting the disease.

The legal challenge – which claims policy failures led to teachers becoming infected in schools – aims to secure income protection for education staff with long Covid, disability rights and compensation for lost livelihoods. If successful, the Government could face a multi-million pound compensation bill.

THE i PAPER
Sexual dysfunction and suicidal thoughts - the dark side of anti-balding drugs

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Hair loss wasn’t something Ryan had ever particularly worried about. Even when a small patch on his scalp began to thin, he gave it little notice. But flicking through a newspaper in his early 30s, he came across an advert for a “wonder hair loss drug”, and he thought “why not?” He was often complimented on his hair.

A few weeks after starting the treatment, he was struck by crushing anxiety “like a bolt of lightning”. He couldn’t eat or sleep. He lost interest in sex, started losing strength in the gym, and developed suicidal thoughts. At work in the Civil Service, he suddenly struggled to meet colleagues’ eyes. Menial tasks became a battle. He recoiled from human contact.