Last Updated on April 3, 2023 by
Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD
Table of Contents:
At Alternative to Meds Center’s holistic mental health and drug rehab facility, we know that there are solutions for depression, anxiety, and insomnia, other than being medicated on Celexa© and developing long-term issues with Celexa addiction or dependence.
Help For Celexa Addiction, Tolerance, and Dependence
What does help for all the facets of Celexa addiction, tolerance, and dependence mean at Alternative to Meds Center?
It means real help that allows people to transition to living life drug-free without suffering. It means treatments that are designed to reduce the unwanted symptoms that drug therapy was not able to successfully resolve. It also means effective holistic treatments that do not carry the same liability of drug-induced adverse effects. And it means the goal of being able to remain drug-free without a return of original symptoms.
Addiction to antidepressants is reportedly relatively rare. Nonetheless, a research study published in the International Journal of Mental Health Nursing found that 27% of a group of nearly 2000 patients taking antidepressants reported they felt addicted to the antidepressant drug they were taking.6
The mechanics of how SSRIs work is not completely understood. But what is known is that after regular use, many find they cannot easily stop taking the medication without harsh withdrawal reactions. An estimated 10-16% of the adult population in western countries takes antidepressants, the largest number of which are SSRIs. And more than half have been taking them for more than 2 years. The potential for Celexa addiction, tolerance, and dependence looms ever larger in the medical landscape. More than half of those taking antidepressants report unwanted reactions to the drug, but also withdrawal phenomena when they try to stop.7
Since withdrawal reactions are a feature of drug dependence, we can see that dependence associated with Celexa (citalopram) and similar prescribed drugs may be much more common than previously thought.
Paradoxical Effects of SSRI Treatment
Paradoxical SSRI effects are reported as one of the more serious risks in antidepressant-based treatment. One very serious concern is worsening depression and the emergence of suicidal tendencies, which are thought related to the motivating effect an SSRI may induce on a depressed person. Another concern is the emergence of akathisia, which can involve extreme self-destructive and aggressive behaviors. Other paradoxical reactions can include newly emerging panic attacks, mania, and insomnia. There have also been case reports of a compulsive gambling habit that began after taking Celexa, which may be related to how the drug affects other factors in life that can start a spiral down into chaos. These paradoxical effects are NOT what a person was seeking as a successful outcome in treatment.3,13
Drug Tolerance
When a person takes a drug for a substantial period of time, the initial therapeutic effects may fade, leading a person to start taking the drug in higher doses, or more often than was prescribed to replicate the desired effects. This is called drug tolerance and is a sign that dependence has developed.
Celexa is classed as a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI). One of the major issues with this class of drugs is that even if an individual isn’t deficient in serotonin when they start their prescription, this medication can actually create a serotonin deficiency. This drug does not produce serotonin, it blocks its reuptake. Serotonin is supposed to be reuptaken, in order for our nerve cells to reuse it for normal functioning of neuronal activity. But when serotonin molecules are forced to stay suspended, these blocked serotonin molecules degrade, and eventually, a deficiency can ensue. The reuptake process has in fact been hijacked.1
Many people may be frightened and unsure of 
