NY Times Claims "Signs Of Rising Stress" For People In Uncertain Times

Certainly, I've been seeing all kinds of anxiety and depression here in Seattle in recent months, but according to this New York Times article it's a growing national trend (the paper loves nothing as much as it loves "trend" stories).

"'The economy and fear of what’s going to happen is having a huge effect,' said Sarah Bullard Steck, a Washington therapist who also directs the Commerce Department’s employee assistance program. 'People are coming in more' with 'severe anxiety' or 'more marital strife, some domestic violence, some substance abuse.'

"Alan A. Axelson, a Pittsburgh psychiatrist, said he is seeing first-time patients, and infrequent patients experiencing “relapse and needing more therapy and medication; and Pittsburgh’s actually doing pretty good economically.'"

OK, that's all anecdotal and while I think it's likely true that people are more anxious and whatnot during this very odd recession we're experiencing, one of the most telling numbers from last year is that anti-depressant prescriptions were only up 2.4 percent last year, according to IMS Health. Keep in mind that we were in recession all of last year and the stock market crash occurred in mid-September, so I'm a bit surprised that anti-depressant Rxs weren't up much more (unless people are suddenly turning to other alternatives).

It will be interesting to see what sales are like in the first quarter of this year for Lexapro and Effexor (the remaining "modern" anti-depressants that are on-patent and are easy to track sales for). If they are up dramatically over last year, then that'll ell us something. Another bellweather drug might be Abilify, now approved for and advertised like crazy for add-on drug status for depression.

There was one stat in the story that blew my mind, however:

"National Suicide Prevention Lifeline calls jumped from 39,465 a month in January 2008 to 50,158 in January 2009, and economic stress more frequently 'played a central role,' said Richard McKeon, the Lifeline’s federal project officer."

That's of concern, no doubt about it.