Over three million (or 1 in 7) Australian adults take antidepressants for depression and anxiety every day, making Australia the second highest consumer of antidepressants of all OECD countries.
74% of mental health-related prescriptions dispensed were for antidepressant medications in 2021–22. mental health-related medications were dispensed in 2021–22. 4.7 million people (18% of Australians) filled a mental health-related prescription in 2021–22.
Eleven percent of Americans aged 12 years and over take antidepressant medication. Females are more likely to take antidepressants than are males, and non-Hispanic white persons are more likely to take antidepressants than are non-Hispanic black and Mexican-American persons.
Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)
This class includes sertraline, citalopram, escitalopram, paroxetine, fluoxetine and fluvoxamine. SSRIs are: the most commonly prescribed antidepressants in Australia. often a doctor's first choice for most types of depression.
In 2020, Germany spent $812 million (€783 million) on antidepressants. Spain ($649 million or €626 million) and Italy ($456 million or €440 million) are the other leading countries for spending on antidepressants.
antidepressants 7.3 million people (17% of the adult population) opioid pain medicines 5.6 million (13%)
Sertraline hydrochloride, used for multiple mental health and mood disorders, is the most prescribed antidepressant on the list with more than 18 million prescriptions in 2021.
Overall, these data do not indicate that there's over-prescribing of antidepressants in Australia. A second potential measure of the value or otherwise of this increase in antidepressant use is its impact on suicide rates.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are the most prescribed type of antidepressant and include: Fluoxetine. Citalopram.
Doctors, including general practitioners (GPs) and psychiatrists (specialists in mental health) can prescribe antidepressant medicines. Psychologists specialise in psychological treatments and do not prescribe medication, but they can talk to your doctor if they believe a trial of medicine would be of benefit.
About 130 million Americans — many far healthier than the Heckmans — swallow, inject, inhale, infuse, spray, and pat on prescribed medication every month, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicates. Americans buy much more medicine per person than any other country.
A common myth is that you need to take antidepressants forever. Many people use antidepressants for a few months and then slowly wean their way off the medication. Others take antidepressants for years before they discontinue the medication.
24.5% of college students are taking some form of antidepressants, anti-anxiety and mood stabilizers, such as Prozac, Zoloft or Lamotrigine. 95% of college counselors report that mental health concern is growing on their campus.
In the 2018 financial year, over 3 million Australians were prescribed an antidepressant, mainly SSRIs for depression or anxiety. As shown in Table 1, older people are the most likely to be medicated, with 1 in 4 Australians aged over 78 years prescribed an antidepressant, in 2017-18.
SSRIs are among the most frequently sold drugs in Australia. Sertraline (sold under the brand name Zoloft) and escitalopram (Cipralex and Lexapro) are both among Australia's 10 most commonly prescribed medications.
Four new antidepressants have been recently marketed in Australia. They are the selective reversible monoamine oxidase A inhibitor, moclobemide, and the selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), fluoxetine, paroxetine and sertraline.
Generally speaking, SSRIs and SNRIs are well-tolerated by most people. They also have good evidence supporting their long-term safety. Older antidepressants, like TCAs and MAOIs, tend to cause more side effects.
Perhaps the most recognizable among them is Prozac (fluoxetine). It's still the best option for many people, but since it was approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 1987, Prozac has been joined by a variety of other antidepressant medications.
SSRIs are generally safe for most people. However, in some circumstances they can cause problems.
Message: One in 16 Australians is currently experiencing depression. Breakdown: 6.2% of Australians aged 16 to 85 have experienced an affective disorder in the last 12 months. This is equivalent to 1.16 million people today.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (Australia's regulatory agency for medical drugs) and manufacturers of antidepressants do not recommend antidepressant use for depression in young people under the age of 18.
Taking medicine for your depression can help you get your life back to normal, especially if you also get counselling. But if your symptoms are mild, lifestyle changes and counselling may be all you need. You don't need to be ashamed about taking antidepressants.
The latest increase means that the number of antidepressant items prescribed over the past six years has increased by 34.8%, from 61.9 million items in 2015/2016 to 83.4 million items in 2021/2022.
Japan doesn't have the same variety of more modern antidepressants typically found in western countries. They just started to approve the use of SSRIs and SNRIs in the 1990s and the current list of approved medications is very small.