New stats from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention claim that some 11 percent of the US population is currently taking antidepressant meds. This is an increase of almost 400 percent since 1994.
Women makeup the highest percentage of antidepressant users, with some 1 in 5 women between the ages of 40-59 currently taking the deugs. Women and adolecent girls are 2.5 times more likely than male counterparts to be taking one or more pills. Four percent of young people between the ages of 12 and 17 are on an antidepressent.
NPR cites IMS Health data, which states that antidepressants are the second most prescribed drug after medicine to treat high cholesterol. In 2010, 255 million antidepressant prescriptions were dispensed, up 2 percent from 2009.
Most users have been on the drugs for over two years and there evidence suggests that were there not concerns about stigma and possible side effects, there would likely be even more prescriptions in the US. Prozac, for example, has been referenced frequently in popular culture AND is known for causing reduced sexual desire and gratification.
