Antidepressants

The stigma related to antidepressants is real and prevalent in our society, silencing the great need to discuss how we can better take care of one another.

This is part of a series, sharing the self-authored book, “The Hard Way: Honest Conversations about mental health in our homes, churches and communities,” which is introduced in this free post as well as this one. The funds given by paid subscribers for this post will be donated to NAMI.

Note: Because I originally wrote this book several years ago, I’ve kept the original statistics and hope to add more recent statistics in a future post.

Over half of my closest friends and myself are on antidepressants. Each case is individual, but the reasons are all legitimate. Even still, these statistics from the American Psychological Association in 2017 are staggering.

12.7%:The percentage of the U.S. population over age 12 who took
antidepressant medication in the past month, according to an analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics. Most antidepressants are used to treat depression, while some are prescribed for other conditions.

“64%: The increase in the percentage of people using antidepressants between 1999 and 2014. In 1999, 7.7 percent of the population took the medication.”

“19.1%:The percentage of older adults (over age 60) who took antidepressants in the past month. Antidepressant use increases with age. These medications are used by 16.6 percent of people ages 40 to 59, 7.8 percent of those ages 20 to 39, and 3.4 percent of adolescents ages 12 to 19.”

“Women are twice as likely as men to take antidepressant medication (16.5 percent compared with 8.6 percent). Women are more likely than men to take antidepressants in every age group.”

“16.5%:The percentage of non-Hispanic white Americans taking antidepressants, about three times as much as any other race or ethnic group. By comparison, 5.6 percent of non-Hispanic black Americans, 5 percent of Hispanic Americans, and 3.4 percent of non-Hispanic Asian-Americans took antidepressants in the past month. “

What is causing so many people to need anti-depressants? Is it a chemical imbalance? Is it the stressors of life? Is anxiety causing the chemical imbalance? What becomes more troubling is that often those who are trying to take care of their mental health, are being judged for their use of medication. The stigma is real and prevalent in our society, silencing the great need to discuss how we can better take care of one another.

“The average delay between onset of mental illness symptoms and treatment is 11 years.” ²

As someone who began her journey through mental health care in the office of a psychologist, it took me quite some time to get used to the idea of medication. I’ve had to unlearn some societal norms that I accepted as I researched whether medication was right for me.