--- title: 13% of Americans Take Antidepressants description: A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics finds that 65% more Americans are taking antidepressants than they were in 1999 canonical: https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-08-15T13:42:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:54:09.461Z article:section: Health og:title: 13% of Americans Take Antidepressants og:description: The most recent numbers have increased by nearly 65% since 1999-2002 og:url: https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92911985a9bdd65d/6988c140bc6cfc3c983e0bcb/time-health-stock-pill-pattern.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 5220 og:image:height: 2936 og:image:alt: time-health-stock-tablets og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 13% of Americans Take Antidepressants twitter:description: The most recent numbers have increased by nearly 65% since 1999-2002 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92911985a9bdd65d/6988c140bc6cfc3c983e0bcb/time-health-stock-pill-pattern.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 13% of Americans Take Antidepressants > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=0a4dead6-d360-4e8f-9eee-f81bbc39a8e8&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) ## Video: It's Official: Yoga Helps Depression [Watch (HLS stream): It's Official: Yoga Helps Depression](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/X1gG6U73.m3u8) (1:02)  _Published 2017-03-09. A small new study from Boston University finds that taking yoga classes twice a week may help ease depression, thanks in part to deep breathing_ by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 15, 2017 1:42 PM UTC  Large group of white tablets Large group of white tablets Getty Images by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Aug 15, 2017 1:42 PM UTC Antidepressants are some of the most popular drugs in the United States, and their usage shows no signs of waning. A new report from the [National Center for Health Statistics](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/index.htm) shows that from 2011 through 2014, the most recent data available, close to 13% of people 12 and older said they took an antidepressant in the last month. That [number is up from 11%](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db76.htm) in 2005-2008. The most recent numbers have increased by nearly 65% since 1999-2002, when 7.7% of Americans reported taking an antidepressant. **MORE:** [New Hope for Depression](http://time.com/4876098/new-hope-for-depression/) Many people who took antidepressants, which are used to treat depression as well as anxiety, also reported using them longterm: 68% of people ages 12 and up said they had been taking their antidepressant for two years or more. A quarter of people who took antidepressants reported taking them for 10 years or more. The study authors also found that women were about twice as likely as men to say they took antidepressants, a trend that’s been evident [for a few years](http://healthland.time.com/2011/10/20/what-does-a-400-increase-in-antidepressant-prescribing-really-mean/). (Women are twice as likely to develop depression as men.) Antidepressant use also became more common as people got older. [As TIME reported in a recent cover story](http://time.com/4876098/new-hope-for-depression/), clinical depression affects about 16 million people in the U.S. and is estimated to cost the U.S. about $210 billion a year in productivity loss and health care needs. Global revenue for antidepressants is [projected](https://globenewswire.com/news-release/2016/05/10/838292/0/en/Global-Depression-Drug-Market-Poised-to-Surge-from-USD-14-51-Billion-in-2014-to-USD-16-80-Billion-by-2020-MarketResearchStore-Com.html) to grow to nearly $17 billion by 2020. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/"},"headline":"13% of Americans Take Antidepressants","datePublished":"2017-08-15T13:42:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:54:09.461Z","description":"A new report from the National Center for Health Statistics finds that 65% more Americans are taking antidepressants than they were in 1999","url":"https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/","keywords":["Mental Health/Psychology","Psychology","Depression","Mental Health","CDC","Antidepressants","psychiatry"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92911985a9bdd65d/6988c140bc6cfc3c983e0bcb/time-health-stock-pill-pattern.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt92911985a9bdd65d/6988c140bc6cfc3c983e0bcb/time-health-stock-pill-pattern.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"time-health-stock-tablets","caption":"Large group of white tablets TIME health stock","creditText":"Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/mental-healthpsychology/","name":"Mental Health/Psychology"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/","name":"13% of Americans Take Antidepressants"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"It's Official: Yoga Helps Depression","description":"A small new study from Boston University finds that taking yoga classes twice a week may help ease depression, thanks in part to deep breathing","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/X1gG6U73/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-03-09T17:35:32.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/X1gG6U73.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/","duration":"PT1M2S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4900248/antidepressants-depression-more-common/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```