Anti Depressant Use Increasing In US

Is everybody happy? Who wants ice cream?

[From article]
Antidepressant use among Americans is skyrocketing. Adults in the U.S. consumed four times more antidepressants in the late 2000s than they did in the early 1990s. As the third most frequently taken medication in the U.S., researchers estimate that 8 to 10 percent of the population is taking an antidepressant. But this spike does not necessarily signify a depression epidemic. Through the early 2000s pharmaceutical companies were aggressively testing selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), the dominant class of depression drug, for a variety of disorders—the timeline below shows the rapid expansion of FDA-approved uses.

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/the-rise-of-all-purpose-antidepressants/

The Rise of All-Purpose Antidepressants
Doctors are increasingly prescribing SSRIs to treat more than just depression
Oct 16, 2014

By Julia Calderone