Millions Of Women Are On Antidepressants And No One's Asking Why

We’re in the midst of a mental-health crisis unlike anything we’ve ever seen. Online, we watch women break down, laying bare their pain. And as depression and anxiety soar, so too do SSRI prescriptions, millions of women medicating the very distress that society has left them to endure. While antidepressants are being prescribed in the millions, we’re failing to ask why there has been such a significant increase in unhappiness for women. Are these pills really working or worsening the problem? The Rise of the Pill In the 1950s the first set of antidepressants were introduced, marking a shift in how depression and anxiety were treated. Over the past seventy years since their introduction we’ve seen the number of prescriptions rise exponentially. About 15 percent of U.S. women were taking prescription medication for depression in 2023. In the UK around 5 million women were prescribed antidepressants in the year 2023, compared to 3 million men. Across OECD countries, the most advanced and prosperous nations across the world, antidepressant consumption rose roughly 50 percent in the 2010s; in many European nations it more than doubled over the last two decades. The surge is driven not only by new patients but by large numbers of long-term users staying on medication for years. Monthly dispensing rates of antidepressants post-March 2020 increased by 129.6 percent compared to before the pandemic. The scale of antidepressant use among adult women is staggering on its own. But the story becomes even more unsettling when we turn to the next generation. Teen girls, in particular, are being medicated at unprecedented rates. For girls aged 12–17, one study showed monthly dispensing rates of antidepressants post-March 2020 increased by 129.6 percent compared to before the pandemic. This is highly controversial. UK guidelines state that young patients should be sent to therapy and evaluated by a psychiatrist before receiving medication. Yet in both the UK and U.S., many doctors are bypassing those safeguards and prescribing antidepressants anyway. Has anyone stopped to consider what kind of damage this could do to a developing mind? Why do we think it’s wise to give potent antidepressants to teenagers when even adults can barely tolerate them? Not all doctors are to blame, but trust in the medical system is fading, and pharmaceutical lobbying isn’t helping. Whether in public or private healthcare, the story is the same: overwhelmed clinics, five-minute appointments, and antidepressants tossed out like Band-Aids for deep emotional wounds. Therapy could offer a therapeutic healing space, yet long waits and high prices keep it out of reach for many. What’s clear is that antidepressants do not address the root cause of the symptoms women are facing and perhaps are even making them worse. At What Cost? Side Effects, Placebos and the Limits of SSRIs Facing mental health struggles is never easy, and most of us will experience some kind of emotional hardship at some point in our lives. It’s understandable why many turn to antidepressants, especially when they’re assured these medications will ease their suffering. But while anxiety and depression are undeniably difficult, we have to ask: is the relief worth it when SSRIs come with such an extensive list of potential side effects? One of the most frequently cited reasons people come off antidepressants is emotional blunting, a symptom that dulls a patient’s ability to feel both positive and negative emotions. Many describe feeling “numb,” “flat,” or “detached.” And while it’s natural to wish we could erase negative feelings, part of life is learning to push through hard times; they make the good moments meaningful and give us a sense of accomplishment when we overcome them. The symptoms don’t stop there. Many patients also report sexual dysfunction, loss of libido, difficulty becoming aroused, or trouble feeling any sexual pleasure. In one large sample, nearly eight in ten antidepressant users reported sexual dysfunction, with almost two-thirds experiencing it at moderate to severe levels. Sex and attraction are an important part of life, and with so many women on SSRIs, it’s worth asking whether this plays a role in why so many are staying single. For women, our interest in sex often comes from feeling confident and connected to our own femininity. SSRIs can disrupt that, dulling desire and making it harder to feel attracted, not just to a partner but to ourselves. The FDA’s own analysis concludes a doubling of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents and young adults compared to placebo. While it seems like an oxymoron, antidepressants can also cause more depression and more anxiety. This is especially heightened for young people under the age of 25, with the FDA’s own analysis concluding a doubling of suicidal thoughts and behaviors in adolescents and young adults compared to placebo. Many patients also suffer from apathy during and after the medication, which impairs their ability to enjoy things that once brought them joy. Once a patient decides to stop taking antidepressant drugs the symptoms don’t immediately stop; many face flu-like symptoms, brain zaps, dizziness, nausea, insomnia, irritability, panic, and emotional instability. Considering all of this, what does the research actually say about the effectiveness of SSRIs in treating depression and anxiety? These medications were originally developed around the monoaminergic hypothesis, the idea that depression is caused by a chemical imbalance, particularly low serotonin. But decades of research have challenged that assumption. A 2008 meta-analysis by Irving Kirsch and colleagues found that much of the benefit patients feel from antidepressants can be attributed to expectations rather than the drug’s chemical action. Kirsch concluded that roughly 75 to 80 percent of the apparent benefit of antidepressants is reproduced by placebos. His findings caused enormous uproar within the medical community and among pharmaceutical companies, who criticized his methodology, claimed his sample was too narrow, and argued that he underestimated the true effects of the drugs. Yet even many of his critics now acknowledge that antidepressants offer only modest benefits for most people, and that the placebo effect plays a far larger role than previously admitted. All this is not to discourage people from taking antidepressants; however, it’s important to consider all of the facts and make an educated decision. And if you’re thinking of coming off of them you should always consult a doctor. The Culture Behind the Crisis It feels as if women’s unhappiness has become something society quietly accepts, almost as an inevitability, without ever questioning the root causes. While we can’t know exactly how women felt generations ago, it’s hard not to wonder whether they faced this same intensity of emotional distress, or whether something about our hyper-modern world is amplifying it. Of course, women in previous eras faced serious challenges, but many were grounded by strong values, faith, and community anchors that helped them weather hardship. Modern women often don’t have those same supports. As liberalism pushed society toward secularism and hyper-individualism, the moral and communal frameworks that once gave women direction and belonging have slowly disappeared. Women have been handed a platter of freedoms that were supposed to make us happy. Hookup culture became the norm, encouraging women to act like men while simultaneously criticizing men for doing the very same thing. It asks women to detach from their emotions, downplay their need for connection, and treat intimacy as a weakness. This creates a deep internal conflict: on one hand, she offers her sexuality in exchange for male acceptance, and on the other, she’s left with a profound sense of emptiness that this so-called freedom never fills. It feels as if women’s unhappiness has become something society quietly accepts, almost as an inevitability, without ever questioning the root causes. Feminism has pushed many women to suppress their natural instincts to nurture, bond, create, and build meaningful relationships. Instead, we’re encouraged to be “strong,” “independent,” and endlessly productive for a soulless corporation. Marriage and motherhood may not be the right path for every woman, but for many it’s the environment in which the feminine actually thrives, a life rooted in love and connection. Yet the rise of casual dating has made it increasingly difficult for women who want marriage. It may be called social media, but the apps in and of themselves have made everyone less social. People live more isolated lives than ever: fewer friendships, weaker communities, and almost no interdependence. Loneliness has quietly become one of the most widespread emotional struggles among women, yet it hides beneath clinical labels like “anxiety” and “depression.” If people had the opportunity to form closer, more meaningful bonds I believe a lot of the mental health struggles would disappear. In this emotional landscape, medication has become more than a treatment. For some, it becomes their identity. Online, women celebrate “Sertraline anniversaries” or post about their SSRI journey like other people would celebrate one year of marriage or their baby’s first words. Women of the past were criticized for depending on their families or husbands, but modern women have simply traded one dependence for another. And now, this new dependence is treated as normal, while any attempt to question why women are so unhappy is quietly pushed into the background. If we truly care about women’s well-being, we need to stop medicating the symptoms and start confronting the societal forces that are making women so profoundly unhappy.