How long should anxiety be treated with medication?
Dr. Mattu answered a commonly asked question regarding how long someone should be on medication when being treated for anxiety and/or depression.
The COVID-19 pandemic was a breaking point for 43-year-old Tamalyn Paredes, an addiction counselor at a methadone clinic in Portland, Oregon. Living in California at the time, she worked at a group home for children with serious emotional disturbances – a job she described as taxing, especially when kids would lash out.
Helping those with mental health conditions hit close to home for Paredes. She lived with depression and suicidal thoughts for years, but the hormonal side effects of ovary removal surgery in 2019 made things worse.
“I felt like my life was falling apart,” she said.
After moving to Oregon for a new job in October 2021, she decided to prioritize her mental health and see a doctor for treatment. She was diagnosed with ADHD and prescribed medications, which she said have been life-changing.
Today, Paredes takes three medications to manage her mental health. Her sleep quality has improved. She has more control over her emotions. Focusing her attention at work has become easier, especially after being fired for performance issues in previous jobs.
“I cannot go back to not being medicated,” she said.
A USA TODAY analysis of Medicaid data for the 60 most used psychiatric drugs showed a growing number of people sought mental health treatment and medication during the pandemic as it pushed people into isolation and dismantled support systems.
The analysis also revealed a lingering effect of the pandemic: Mental health-related prescriptions rose further in 2022, up 12% from 2019, outpacing the less than 1% growth in overall prescriptions. That includes prescriptions for generic Zoloft, the most common antidepressant medication, which rose 17% over the same period.
More than half of these drugs saw an increase in prescriptions since 2019, and the steepest increase was among ADHD drugs: Concerta and generic Adderall.
Related: ADHD drug prices rise as Adderall shortage leaves patients scrimping to fill prescriptions
Even before the pandemic, the use of mental health drugs was on the rise due to more affordable medication options and broadening acceptance of mental health treatment. That increase accelerated as the pandemic deepened the country’s mental health crisis following widespread loss and adversity.
The upending of normal structures due to COVID-19, alongside the heightened awareness of mental health and the expansion of conditions being diagnosed, are likely contributing to the rise in mental health prescription drugs, Amy Werremeyer, president of the American Association of Psychiatric Pharmacists, told USA TODAY.
According to the Census Bureau’s January 2024 survey, the percentage of people experiencing anxiety or depression remains double that of pre-pandemic levels.
Across all ages, over a fifth of adults – and more than a third of those under 30 – reported feeling anxious or depressed. Among transgender and bisexual people, the problem is worse: 57% of transgender people and 44% of bisexuals said they experience anxiety or depression.
“This is just coming to a point where for many people, it’s been unmanageable,” said Dr. Smita Das, chair of the American Psychiatric Association’s addiction council.
One silver lining of the pandemic, Das said: “We all started to talk about mental health more and bring it to the forefront.”
The growing toll that the mental health crisis is exacting on the country is borne out in other data, too. For example, lives lost to suicide and drug overdoses are at record levels.
Policymakers and government officials have taken note and recommended actions to fortify mental health programs and reinforce social support systems, such as creating mobile crisis teams, establishing a national suicide prevention hotline and implementing…
Read More: Post-COVID, depression, anxiety-related prescriptions see major uptick