More prescriptions for antidepressants and less psychotherapy are the findings of a study about treatment with medication between 1996 and 2005 published in the August edition of Archives of General Psychiatry. The number of prescriptions doubled, say the authors, as did the number of people taking them, representing an increase from 13.3 million to 27 million people. Hypothesis to explain this pattern include an increase in diagnosing depression, a growing acceptance of the biological causes for depression, and an increase in direct-to-consumer advertising. Part of the uncertainty comes from the research methodology which asked household informants to describe activities about which they may not have been entirely aware. Two major groups where antidepressants did not grow at the same rate were African-Americans, and uninsured.

Depression in young children
An article about depression in pre-schoolers also appeared in the same (August) issue of Archives of General Psychiatry. In a study of preschool depression, the authors attempt to answer questions about children under 6, usually the cut-off age for research. Their findings, based on following a sample (n=306) of youngsters between 3 and 6 years old for twenty-four months in St Louis, Mo., suggest it is likely to persist rather than be a transient developmental phase.