Our brain is a very complex and sensitive organ that can be damaged by several factors. It can be caused by hereditary factors, physical injuries, lack of sufficient blood supply, and tumors. Brain damage can be localized in just one part of the brain but it can also be a severe damage in some cases.



There have been some reports about fluoxetine-related brain damage which has caused some patients and even medical doctors to rethink their way of treating some mental disorders. Their premise sites that the medications such as selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors or SSRI drugs like fluoxetine have the ability to rewire our brain in a different manner. They argue that these mental medications may cause more negative side effects that beneficial ones.

Due to this concern, some studies were already done to find out whether fluoxetine and brain damage may be linked together. One study made use of monkeys and rats which were given high doses of SSRI drugs. Upon getting brain scans from the animal subjects, the study concluded that high levels of serotonin can cause the brains of these subjects to look differently than normal brains. They further added that this effect of serotonin drugs that occurred in a short period of time with higher doses can also happen in long term medications of using the same drugs with lower doses.

However, the chance of suffering from brain damage from fluoxetine still remains a question. As an SSRI drug, fluoxetine treats mental disorders like depression, panic disorder, and eating disorders by increasing the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is one of the brain chemicals that are easily reabsorbed after its release in the brain.

Scientists have found out that people with depression have lower levels of brain neurotransmitters like serotonin compared to those who are not depressed. It has led to the conclusion that depression and other mental disorders are not simply psychosocial troubles but are also caused by biochemical factors such as chemical imbalances in the brain. This finding began the development of drugs that can alter these brain chemical imbalances to treat mental disorders.

In recent studies, SSRI drugs have been found to help the growth of new brain neurons in the part of the brain responsible for people's sense of smell, emotions, and motivations. Neurons are responsible in transmitting and processing information in the brain. Growth of new neurons are therefore essential for new cognition to take place. For people with depression, new neurons allows them to think on a wider scale which is important for them to recover from the disorder. The studies also explain why it takes a while for these SSRI medications such as fluoxetine to establish results on patients.

It can be said that the chance of getting a fluoxetine-related brain damage is quite low. It is specially true for patients who follow their prescriptions by heart. High levels of fluoxetine toxicity may have its adverse effects, which is not necessarily brain damage. But this usually happens in cases of overdose which can be avoided by taking medication as prescribed and by consulting the doctor about any symptoms that may appear after taking the drug.

It is important to remember that taking prohibited drugs, abusing harmful substances, suffering from stroke, tumor, head injuries, and other accidents have a higher chance of damaging the brain than seeking prescription drugs for mental disorders.