Psychiatrists wrote 86% more prescriptions for psychotropic drugs, including antidepressants, during the lockdown months of March and April compared to January and February, it has been revealed. “Prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications and sleep aids have risen during the pandemic, prompting doctors to warn about the possibility of long-term addiction abuse of the drugs,” reports the Wall Street Journal.
According to Ginger, an organization that provides mental health services to companies, compared to January and February of this year, prescriptions for psychotropics, most of which were antidepressants, were up 86% for the months of March and April.
The stress of unemployment, social isolation and health concerns are all cited by Americans who say the lockdown is having a serious impact on their mental health.
Pharmacy group Express Scripts also revealed that prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications were up 34.1% between mid-February and mid-March, while prescriptions for antidepressants increased 18.6%.
The numbers emphasize the significant mental health toll created by the lockdown which will reverberate for many years to come.
As we highlighted yesterday, Doctors at John Muir Medical Center in Walnut Creek, California say they have recorded more deaths from suicide than coronavirus, with a year’s worth of suicides and suicide attempts being recorded in a 4 week period.
“Community health is suffering,” warned Dr. Mike deBoisblanc, as he called for the lockdown order to be fully lifted.