FIGURE 15.2 Antidepressant Use A recent report showed that the use of antidepressant medications increased 400% over the period of 1988 to 2008 (National Center for Health Statistics, 2012). This rise may be due to a number of factors, including new data on the effectiveness of these medications and also the enhanced efforts to market these drugs directly to consumers. The higher rates of use shown here for females may be due in part to the fact that women have higher rates of both depression and treatment use, compared to men.

Data from National Center for Health Statistics, 2012.