According to the CDC, antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed drug in the U.S.–118 million prescriptions in 2005. About 11 percent of women and 5 percent of men currently use antidepressants.
Media have reported that for women in 2002, more than 1 in 3 doctor’s visits involved either a new antidepressant prescription or monitoring an existing one.
Where do they get them? Less than one-third of antidepressants are prescribed by psychiatrists–doctors who have been specially trained in the drugs’ prescription and use.
And psychiatrists, according to a Johns Hopkins University study, spend 71 percent of their time during office visits prescribing medications and only 29 percent on talk therapy (likely due to higher insurance reimbursement for the former).
Source: Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2008), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
Though antidepressants have proven side-effects, some serious, the New York Times reported that only 1 in 5 people on the medications have any kind of follow-up appointment after prescription. More than 80 percent of adults do not see a doctor or therapist for mental health care in the first month after starting an antidepressant, according to research by Medco Health Solutions.
