The New York Times (12/13, A18, Carey, Subscription Publication) reports, “About one in six American adults reported taking at least one psychiatric” medication, “usually an antidepressant or an anti-anxiety medication, and most had been doing so for a year or more, according to a” research letter published online Dec. 12 in JAMA Internal Medicine. The findings are “based on 2013 government survey data on some 242 million adults.”
According to the CBS News (12/12, Welch) website, the research letter also reveals that “over 80 percent of those taking these medications reported long-term use, which experts say is concerning since some” of these medicines “are recommended for shorter use and carry a number of serious risks.”
TIME (12/12, Sifferlin) points out, “More than 20% of white Americans reported being prescribed psychiatric” medications, “compared to about 9% of Hispanic adults, nearly 10% of black adults and close to 5% of Asian adults,” investigators found.
Related Links:
— “One in 6 American Adults Say They Have Taken Psychiatric Drugs, Report Says,”Benedict Carey, The New York Times, December 13, 2016.