Scientists from the University of Michigan found that teenage girls and young women under 25 were 64% more likely to be prescribed antidepressants following the COVID-19 pandemic. Research results published In the Journal of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP).
In the study, researchers analyzed information from a U.S. national database on pharmacies that dispensed medications for depression during the COVID-19 pandemic and one year after it began. They found that by the end of March 2020, this rate had increased by 130% among adolescent girls aged 12-17 and by 60% among young women aged 18-25.
However, the frequency of antidepressant use by young men has changed little since the end of March 2020 and has decreased among adolescent men.
Women are likely not the only ones experiencing increased levels of anxiety and depression during the pandemic, the researchers noted. They suggested that adolescent boys and young men were more likely to miss health checks and less likely to seek help from doctors for mental health problems. The overall increase in antidepressant dispensing to adolescents and young adults may be related not only to worsening mental health but also to doctors’ workload, the researchers added.
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