Antidepressant prescription rate among children aged 12-17 soared by 64% during pandemic – and more than DOUBLED among teen girls, data shows

Research shows that antidepressant use among children has skyrocketed during the pandemic.

Girls were largely responsible for the increase, with the percentage of young women aged 12 to 17 rising 130 percent faster after March 2020 compared to before the pandemic.

Being cut off from friends due to lockdowns and school closures, health fears and uncertainty about the future all contributed to poor mental health during the Covid outbreak.

“Multiple studies suggest that rates of anxiety and depression have increased among female adolescents during the pandemic,” said lead author Dr. Kao Chua, a pediatrician at the University of Michigan Children’s Hospital.

‘These studies, combined with our findings, suggest that the pandemic has exacerbated a pre-existing mental health crisis in this group.’

Girls were largely responsible for the increase, with the percentage of young women aged 12 to 17 rising 130 percent faster after March 2020 compared to before the pandemic

Researchers from the University of Michigan analyzed data from a national database that included 92 percent of prescriptions dispensed in U.S. pharmacies.

They looked at antidepressants given to Americans aged 12 to 25 between 2016 and 2020.

Researchers determined the monthly antidepressant dispensing rate, defined as the number of individuals per month with at least one antidepressant prescription dispensed per 100,000 people.

They found that between January 2016 and December 2022, the monthly number of antidepressant prescriptions increased by 66 percent.

Before March 2020, this rate increased by 17 percent per month.

After March 2020, the provision of antidepressants to young adults overall increased 64 percent faster than before.

After March 2020, the number of antidepressants dispensed increased 130 percent faster among female adolescents aged 12 to 17 and 60 percent faster among female young adults aged 18 to 25.

In contrast, the rate of antidepressant dispensing among young male adults has not changed significantly after March 2020.

The rate even dropped among male adolescents aged 12 to 17, which Dr. Chua found surprising.

“It is difficult to believe that this decline reflects improved mental health,” he said.

A more likely explanation is that young men have skipped physicals and other health care visits during the pandemic, reducing the ability to diagnose and treat anxiety and depression, he believes.

The move away from in-person learning, he noted, may also have reduced opportunities for teachers and other school staff to detect mental health problems in male adolescents.

Dr. Chua said the overall increase in antidepressant dispensing to young adults may not be solely linked to worsened mental health.

Long waiting lists for psychotherapy, for example, may also have played a role.

“In my primary care clinic, I often heard from patients and families that they were facing six- to nine-month wait lists for therapy during the pandemic.

“In those situations, there was no point in withholding antidepressants and recommending a therapy-only approach,” Dr. Chua said.

The researchers said the increase in mental health medications likely reflects a greater need for antidepressants as depression and anxiety rates among young adults increased during the pandemic.

The shift to telehealth during Covid may also have increased access to doctors who could prescribe antidepressants, they said.

The findings were published in the journal Pediatrics.