1 in 10 Americans Takes an Antidepressant

About 10% of Americans took an antidepressant drug in 2005, a new study finds. That’s up from about 6% in 1996. But only about one-quarter of the people who took the drugs were being treated for depression. That ratio hardly budged during the period studied. This means that most people are using the medicines for other conditions, such as anxiety. The study used data from U.S. government surveys. They included only people over age 6. Researchers also found that only one-fifth of those who took an antidepressant were receiving psychotherapy. That’s down from nearly one-third in the earlier survey. Blacks and Hispanics were only about half as likely as other Americans to take antidepressants. The study appeared in the journal Archives of General Psychiatry. HealthDay News wrote about it August 3.