Why the Medicated move back in with their parents

A pattern that we have seen in the community of partners who have lost their partner to antidepressant hell … they move back in with their parents or they move away. We know they are confused and feel trapped and like everything is out of control. It looks like there is a neurogical reason for it as well.
Adam Oliver explains: “Why some people on antidepressants become closer to their parents, even if they were not close before: Many partners notice this shift, and it can happen even in people who were not previously close to their parents. There are biological reasons for this. SSRIs and SNRIs blunt emotional range and suppress limbic system activity, particularly dopamine driven bonding, attraction, and romantic attachment. As adult pair bonding weakens, the brain often shifts away from complex, intimate relationships that require emotional depth, reciprocity, and vulnerability.

Parental relationships, even strained or distant ones, are neurologically categorized as early attachment figures. When antidepressants flatten emotions and reduce adult bonding capacity, the brain may default to these early attachment pathways because they feel simpler, safer, and less emotionally demanding, even if the relationship was not warm or close in the past. Antidepressants can also cause emotional regression. People may become more childlike, seek reassurance, validation, or protection, and tolerate dynamics they previously resisted. This can lead to increased contact or closeness with parents regardless of prior relationship quality.