Zoloft Nation: The popular antidepressant has skyrocketed in use in the past decade

Annual prescription rates of popular antidepressants in the U.S.

“Ask your doctor if Zoloft is right for you.”

Antidepressants are a big business. In 2018, for every four Americans, there were three antidepressant prescriptions. Though the number of people taking them is much lower than that – due to unfilled prescriptions, multiple prescriptions, and trial and error – it is clear they have a hold on America.

Like any business, the market for antidepressants is impacted by many factors. First are the classic economic considerations. There’s the quality of the product: does it work? There’s also the price, like any market: is it prohibitively expensive? Obviously, competitors play a role too. But beyond that, there are more amorphous factors, shaped by marketing and brand reputation. A drug can have a whole narrative arc -- a cultural rise and fall.

Zoloft, America’s most popular antidepressant, has drastically increased in use in the past decade. It is almost 50% more popular than the closest peer, Lexapro. Other drugs have not seen the same rise: Celexa, which saw comparable numbers to Zoloft in the early 2010s, has fallen to become the sixth most prescribed antidepressant. Though a lot of factors are at play, including strong brand recognition, Zoloft’s rise seems to be predicated on the fact that the drug works -- and for a wide swath of people.

Antidepressants were not always so prevalent. Before the 1980s, antidepressants were rudimentary and used more often for major depression. This changed when a new class of antidepressants emerged: the SSRIs, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors. These drugs had fewer side effects and could treat more mild depression. SSRIs are now some of the most popularly prescribed drugs in general -- they include Zoloft, Lexapro, Prozac, Celexa, and Paxil.

But now, antidepressants are everywhere. The rate of prescription rose 65 percent between 1999 and 2014, according to a CDC Survey from 2014. (Need to find more continuous data here.) Last year, when the woes of the pandemic set in, antidepressant use skyrocketed to new highs. Pfizer Inc., manufacturer of Zoloft, publicly announced in June 2020 that the drug was in short supply due to increased prescriptions during the covid-19 pandemic.

More Information on America’s most popular antidepressants