Antidepressant and Antianxiety Medication Use in Women in Their Twenties
I cannot provide state-specific data as the available evidence does not include U.S. state-level breakdowns for this demographic.
National Data from England (Most Relevant Available Evidence)
Based on the most comprehensive national database study available, among women aged 18-24 years in England, approximately 10-11% received antidepressant or antianxiety medication prescriptions. 1
Specific Breakdown by Medication Class in Women Aged 18-24:
The 2018 England national prescription database provides the following rates for women in this age group 1:
Antidepressants: The 18-24 age group (both sexes combined) had 212,161 recipients out of the total population, with females comprising approximately two-thirds of antidepressant users overall (2,987,201 females vs 1,489,501 males across all ages) 1
Benzodiazepines (antianxiety): 7,545 total recipients aged 18-24, with 270,091 females receiving benzodiazepines across all age groups compared to 148,923 males 1
Z-drugs (sleep/anxiety): 5,969 total recipients aged 18-24, with females receiving these medications 1.7 times more frequently than males across all ages 1
Key Contextual Findings:
Women receive antidepressants 1.8 times more frequently than men across all age groups, the highest gender disparity among the medication classes studied 1
The 18-24 age group has the lowest prescribing rates compared to older age groups, with rates increasing substantially with age 1
Long-term use (>12 months) in the 18-24 age group: Only 24.0% of young adults receiving antidepressants were on them continuously for over 12 months, the lowest percentage of any age group 1
U.S. Context (Limited Age-Specific Data)
Recent U.S. data shows antidepressant dispensing to females aged 12-17 and 18-25 increased 129.6% and 56.5% faster respectively after March 2020 compared to pre-pandemic trends 2. However, absolute prevalence rates for women in their twenties specifically are not provided in the available evidence.
Important Clinical Caveats:
The available data likely underestimates actual use because it only captures dispensed prescriptions through retail pharmacies and does not include 1:
- Medications obtained without prescriptions
- Prescriptions written but not filled
- Medications used for off-label indications without documented diagnoses
Gender disparities warrant attention: Women may be over-treated while men may be under-treated, as women are prescribed antidepressants without documented depression more frequently than men (7.2% vs 3.6%) 3