[nandm]

I found the article quite interesting. It made me wonder if the people who suddenly started drinking after going on the SSRI's were predisposed to alcoholism in the first place. My second thought was the two that had to attend AA to keep away the cravings were no different than many alcoholics who do not take SSRI's. Before I started the SSRI's I needed AA to stop drinking and teach me how to live without the alcohol. It also relieved my obsession to drink when I did the steps. What is different for me is in sobriety I have been on Prozac, Celexa, Lexapro, and Cymbalta. None of which affected me in the ways described in the article. That would lead me to believe that when an SSRI is prescribed the MD might need to consider the family history and if there is one of alcoholism, warn the patient that they may need to start a program of recovery such as AA if they develop alcohol cravings. I may not have developed the cravings with the meds because I was currently working the steps and working a program of recovery.