Antidepressant Prescriptions Are on the Rise in the U.S.

Antidepressants have surpassed antihypertensive medications as the most frequently prescribed medication class for outpatients. These researchers determined the increase in antidepressant prescribing in various socioeconomic groups through community-based surveys of 18,993 people in 1996 and 28,445 people in 2005 in the U.S. The investigators used multiple interviews and confirmed respondents' self-reported data with health providers.

Antidepressants were prescribed to 5.84% of respondents in 1996 and to 10.12% in 2005 (adjusted rate ratio [ARR], 1.7) — equivalent to 13 million and 27 million recipients in the U.S., respectively. The increase affected all ethnic groups except blacks. Prescriptions of SSRIs and other new agents increased (ARR…