Category: antidepressants

QuickStats: Percentage of Adults Aged 20 Years or Older Who Used Antidepressant Medications in the Past 30 Days by Sex and Marital Status

During 2015–2018, 13.6% of adults aged 20 years or older used prescription antidepressant medications in the past 30 days. Antidepressant use was higher among divorced, separated, or widowed (20.5%) adults than among either married or living with partner (12.3%) or never married (10.8%) adults. There was no difference in use between married and never married Read More >

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Antidepressant Use in Persons Aged 12 and Over: United States, 2011-2014

Questions for Laura Pratt, Psychiatric Epidemiologist and Author of “Antidepressant Use in Persons Aged 12 and Over: United States, 2011-2014” Q:  Are more people taking antidepressants now vs. in the past? LP:   Yes, in our data brief, figure 4, you can see how antidepressant use has increased over time from 1999-2002 to 2011-2014.  Slightly less Read More >

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Antidepressant Use in Americans 12 and Older

Surprisingly, only a third of the people with severe psychological symptoms actually take antidepressant medication. Despite this fact, antidepressants are still the third most commonly prescribed drug taken by Americans of all ages. From 2005-2008, cholesterol-lowering drugs and analgesics, also known as painkillers, were the top two most prescribed drugs, with antidepressants following closely behind. Read More >

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Federal report on America’s children released

Federal interagency report shows declines in preterm birth and low birthweight. Children more likely to live in poverty, less likely to have parent employed full time. These and other statistics have been compiled in America’s Children: Key National Indicators of Well-Being, 2009. It is compiled by a number of federal agencies and provides a comprehensive Read More >

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Teen Suicide and Antidepressants

Today’s Washington Post carries a story based on an article from the journal American Journal of Psychiatry. Warnings from federal regulators four years ago that antidepressants were increasing the risk of suicidal behavior among young people led to a precipitous drop in the use of the drugs. Now a new study has found that the Read More >

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Anti-depressant Use

CNN recently ran a story that has gained some attention. It is entitled CDC: Antidepressants most prescribed drugs in U.S. […]According to a government study, antidepressants have become the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States. They’re prescribed more than drugs to treat high blood pressure, high cholesterol, asthma, or headaches. CNN’s Elizabeth Cohen Read More >

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Anti-depressant use by minors

Information on the number of prescriptions written to  minors for anti-depressants can be found in Health, United States 2006 at Table 92. (located on page 331 of a very large .pdf file). Briefly in the period 1995-96 there were 1.9 prescriptions written for anti-depressants for every 100 persons aged 18 and under. By 2003-04 that number Read More >

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