Is it possible to become addicted to antidepressants?

Is it possible to become addicted to antidepressants?

Charles Triay (General Practicioner) gives expert video advice on: What are the side effects of antidepressants?; Is there a cure for depression? and more...

There is a certain amount of debate as to whether antidepressants are addictive or not. It is true that some antidepressants should not be stopped suddenly because you can develop withdrawal symptoms, so by that definition, they could be addictive, but depending on the type of patient and the type of depression they are suffering from, it could be simply that when you withdraw their antidepressant, their genetic makeup and their susceptibility leads them back into depression. We have to remember that depression is caused by certain changes in certain neurohormones in the brain. Serotonin is the one that's most widely talked about, but there are other neurohormones that are involved in depression, so that by definition, there will be patients that will always be susceptible to depression and might interpret this as being addicted to antidepressants.