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SSRI Addiction

This entry was posted in Addiction on by .
Medically Reviewed

Last Updated on August 8, 2021 by Carol Gillette

Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD

We are certain that better solutions are available other than being medicated with SSRIs and developing an SSRI addiction.

Does Alternative to Meds Center Treat SSRI Addiction?

Our addiction treatment program provides SSRI addiction help for anyone who has become tolerant or dependent on these medications and wants to get off of them. Although there has been much written questioning the safety and efficacy of antidepressant drugs such as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, SSRIs, for some time, concerns have also come to light regarding the problems related to SSRI withdrawal and dependence. Newer reports raise concerns that the widespread interest in Prozac and other similar antidepression drugs may be trapping individuals into a web of dependency. Through reviews of both personal accounts and published studies, it has been concluded that these newer antidepressants can cause substantial problems of SSRI dependence, and withdrawal.

What Causes Depression?

There are many known causes of depressive symptoms, and there are treatments for these root causes without prescription drugs.

ssri depressionIt has also been claimed that depression can quickly develop as an iatrogenic disease (treatment-induced) and that no matter how much they may seem to be “effective,” antidepressant drugs appear to be much more implicated within the issue of depression than was supposed. Unfortunately, doctors often ignore, or are unaware of addiction to SSRI drugs and the withdrawal problems that can result from taking antidepressants including Zoloft, Prozac, and Paxil. Moreover, since the symptoms of an SSRI withdrawal are commonly mistaken for a reappearance of depression, individuals are often at risk of unnecessarily being medicated with more anti-depression drugs instead of investigating the actual causes that can be addressed without drugging the patient in every case.1

How Common is SSRI Addiction?

This potential of prescription medication “merry go round” treatment is not a minor problem given the highly prevalent utilization of these medications and the misguided belief that these drugs are safer than the older ones. In addition, public and mental health agencies have taken it up a notch with campaigns to treat and diagnose the millions of individuals that they estimate to be clinically depressed. There have been complaints reported in The Wall Street Journal from psychotherapists who claim managed care plans (plans which restrict the type, frequency, and level of treatment) often overuse drugs for the treatment of depression in order to evade higher-cost talk therapies. And in order to get off of these medications without encountering seriously uncomfortable withdrawal problems, one is highly encouraged to seek SSRI addiction help. And part of that help could be finding and resolving medical reasons for depression and other symptoms that drugs did not and could not cure.

The SSRI drug label, FDA-approved, does not acknowledge any problems associated with SSRI dependence. For example, Prozac’s label advises that the medication “hasn’t been studied systematically, in humans or animals, for its possibility of tolerance, abuse or physical dependence.” Given the high rate of withdrawal problems that occur during discontinuation, many believe that the FDA should enforce a change in medication labeling which more precisely reflects the building evidence of dependency. People are usually medicated with these drugs prior to any investigative efforts as to what is causing depression. Many people begin taking these antidepressants during an emotionally difficult time, but years later they continue to take them and struggle with addiction to SSRIs and withdrawal trying to get off them.

Find Out More About the Alternative to Meds Program for SSRI Addiction Treatment

ssri addiction treatmentOur rehab center works together with collaborating doctors in order to help individuals reduce their dependencies upon psychiatric medications, other drugs, or alcohol. This is completed through the use of careful tapering methods, neurochemistry stabilization with natural substances, providing biochemical correction to reduce cravings, and removing neurotoxins which may have added to symptoms or feelings that led to being medicated or using drugs in the first place. This combined with discovering the underlying reasons of why an individual was originally depressed, or why they started taking drugs, offers long-lasting success. Our addiction treatment program also includes targeted nutritional therapy, massage, personal exercise training, IV amino acid therapy, yoga, and additional therapies to aid the process of SSRI alternatives antidepressant addiction recovery. We encourage you to call us so we may talk and you can receive an expanded understanding of the SSRI addiction help available.


1. Harvard publication, “What Causes Depression – Onset of depression more complex than a brain chemical imbalance?” published June 24, 2019, online [accessed 2019 Oct 21]


Originally Published by Diane Ridaeus Published Nov 4, 2019


This content has been reviewed and approved by a licensed physician.

Dr. Samuel Lee

Dr. Samuel Lee is a board-certified psychiatrist, specializing in a spiritually-based mental health discipline and integrative approaches. He graduated with an MD at Loma Linda University School of Medicine and did a residency in psychiatry at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and University of Washington School of Medicine in Seattle. He has also been an inpatient adult psychiatrist at Kaweah Delta Mental Health Hospital and the primary attending geriatric psychiatrist at the Auerbach Inpatient Psychiatric Jewish Home Hospital. In addition, he served as the general adult outpatient psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente.  He is board-certified in psychiatry and neurology and has a B.A. Magna Cum Laude in Religion from Pacific Union College. His specialty is in natural healing techniques that promote the body’s innate ability to heal itself.

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SSRI Addiction
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