SafeHomeDIY
  • Home
  • Health
    • Health Today
    • Women’s Health
    • Safety
    • Health & Fitness
    • Weight Loss
  • Nutrition
    • Diet
    • Food & Recipe
    • Skin Care
  • Allergies & Diseases
    • Autism
    • Remedies
  • Pets
  • News
  • #COVID-19
  • Guest Post
SafeHomeDIY
Subscribe
SafeHomeDIY
  • Home
  • Health
    • Health Today
    • Women’s Health
    • Safety
    • Health & Fitness
    • Weight Loss
  • Nutrition
    • Diet
    • Food & Recipe
    • Skin Care
  • Allergies & Diseases
    • Autism
    • Remedies
  • Pets
  • News
  • #COVID-19
  • Guest Post
  • Health
  • News

Prescriptions for anxiety drugs up 34% amid the stress of the coronavirus pandemic 

  • May 1, 2020
  • SafeHomeDIY

More Americans are taking anti-anxiety medications as the spread of the novel coronavirus continues to take a toll on mental health.

A new report from Express Scripts, a Cigna-owned pharmacy benefit manager, found the number of prescriptions for anti-anxiety medications increased by more than one-third. 

What’s more, the number peaked for the week ending on March 15, which is when the virus outbreak was declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.

The authors say they are not surprised by the findings and that the increases in prescriptions are understandable because many adults have become anxious about their lives being upended over such a short period of time.

A new report found that prescriptions for antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-insomnia drugs increased by 21% from mid-February to mid-March (pictured)

A new report found that prescriptions for antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-insomnia drugs increased by 21% from mid-February to mid-March (pictured)

A new report found that prescriptions for antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-insomnia drugs increased by 21% from mid-February to mid-March (pictured)

The biggest spike was seen in the number of prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs, which soared by 34.1%

The biggest spike was seen in the number of prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs, which soared by 34.1%

The biggest spike was seen in the number of prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs, which soared by 34.1%

The results come on the heels of several polls that showed the coronavirus pandemic taking a toll on the mental health of US adults. Pictured: A patient is loaded into an ambulance by emergency medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center, in Brooklyn, New York, April 17

The results come on the heels of several polls that showed the coronavirus pandemic taking a toll on the mental health of US adults. Pictured: A patient is loaded into an ambulance by emergency medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center, in Brooklyn, New York, April 17

The results come on the heels of several polls that showed the coronavirus pandemic taking a toll on the mental health of US adults. Pictured: A patient is loaded into an ambulance by emergency medical workers outside Cobble Hill Health Center, in Brooklyn, New York, April 17

For the report, published this month, the team looked at prescriptions for mental health medications filled from January 19 to March 15 among 31.5 million Express Scripts customers with employer-based health insurance.

Medications included antidepressants, anti-anxiety drugs and anti-insomnia drugs.

Researchers found that for all three medications, prescriptions increased by 21 percent from mid-February and mid-March.  

Prescriptions for antidepressants increased by 18.6 percent, and those for sleeping medications increased by 14.8 percent. 

The largest spike was seen in the number of prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs, which soared by 34.1 percent.

Another finding was that 78 percent – more than three quarters – of all prescriptions filled during the March 15 peak week were new prescriptions.

This means that many Americans were turning to the drugs for the first time as their depression, anxiety and inability to sleep worsened.  

From mid-February to mid-March, the biggest increase in new prescriptions was seen in those for anti-anxiety medications at 37.7 percent.

‘This analysis, showing that many Americans are turning to medications for relief, demonstrates the serious impact COVID-19 may be having on our nation’s mental health,’ a press release read.   

Earlier this month, a Kaiser Family Foundation report found that four in ten adults – 45 percent – felt that worry and stress related to the coronavirus was having a negative impact on their mental health.

This was up from 32 percent who reported feeling the same way in early March. 

And an American Psychiatric Association poll from March found that nearly half of Americans were anxious about the possibility of contracting the virus.

Far more of respondents, 62 percent, were anxious about a loved one becoming seriously ill with the disease.   

In the US, there are currently more than 771,000 confirmed cases of the virus and more than 41,000 fatalities

SafeHomeDIY

Health - Relationships - Lifestyle Related matters. It's All About your Safety First - It's All About You

Previous Article
  • Health
  • News

How NHS medics can now RE-USE masks and gowns

  • May 1, 2020
  • SafeHomeDIY
View Post
Next Article
  • Food & Recipe

The supermarket ready meals that have more salt than a whole tube of Pringles

  • May 1, 2020
  • SafeHomeDIY
View Post
You May Also Like
Nicky Newman, pictured, who died last week following a five-year battle against breast cancer. The 35-year-old campaigner had more than 300,000 followers on Instagram, who she regularly reminded about the importance of breast health
View Post
  • News

Why are so many women under 40 being struck by breast cancer? Two of Britain's top experts, DR LIZ O'RIORDAN and DR ALICIA HEATH assess the evidence

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
Hopes raised over new Government funding for specialist clinics
View Post
  • News

Hopes raised over new Government funding for specialist clinics

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
The gadget, worn on the wrist, uses laser sensors to detect any sudden change in blood flow that would indicate heavy bleeding in the body. Post-partum haemorrhage accounts for roughly a tenth of all maternal deaths in the UK
View Post
  • News

HEALTH NOTES: New gadget can spot life-threatening bleeding after birth

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
RFK Jr. Calls the Biden Administration on the Carpet Over the Southern Border
View Post
  • News

RFK Jr. Calls the Biden Administration on the Carpet Over the Southern Border

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
Today's reader asked DR ELLIE CANNON whether her GP was wrong to refuse to test her middle aged son for prostate cancer despite a family history of the disease
View Post
  • News

DR ELLILE CANNNON: My GP is refusing to test my son for prostate cancer  – is this right?

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
Celebrities such as Lady Gaga, pictured, and Morgan Freeman suffer from the chronic pain condition fibromyalgia
View Post
  • News

Patients with fibromyalgia left in agony due to 'cruel' ban on drugs by NHS chiefs to treat the chronic pain condition whose sufferers include Lady Gaga

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
Kylie Minogue lived with the 'toll' fame can have on your mental health – and more
View Post
  • News

Kylie Minogue lived with the 'toll' fame can have on your mental health – and more

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
Tuberculosis: Warning Medieval disease is on the rise as cases surge across UK
View Post
  • News

Tuberculosis: Warning Medieval disease is on the rise as cases surge across UK

  • SafeHomeDIY
  • September 23, 2023
Recent Posts
  • Why are so many women under 40 being struck by breast cancer? Two of Britain's top experts, DR LIZ O'RIORDAN and DR ALICIA HEATH assess the evidence
  • Hopes raised over new Government funding for specialist clinics
  • HEALTH NOTES: New gadget can spot life-threatening bleeding after birth
  • RFK Jr. Calls the Biden Administration on the Carpet Over the Southern Border
  • DR ELLILE CANNNON: My GP is refusing to test my son for prostate cancer  – is this right?
Safe Home DIY
  • Guest Post
  • Disclaimer and Disclosure
  • Term of Use
Health - Relationships - Lifestyle Related matters. It's All About your Safety First - It's All About You

Input your search keywords and press Enter.