The following information is extracted from the most accurate data available on the number of people taking psychiatric drugs in the United States. This information comes from IQVia (formerly IMS Health), the largest vendor of U.S. physician prescribing data.  The data below was taken from the IQVia Total Patient Tracker Database for 2020, extracted January 2021.

To find out about the hundreds of drug regulatory agency warnings and documented side effects for any class of psychiatric drug listed on this page (i.e., ADHD Drugs, Antidepressants, Antipsychotics, etc.) click the hyperlinks listed below.

Note:  The total number of individuals on psychiatric drugs was cited by IQVia as 76,940,157. The totals for each class of drug (i.e. ADHD or Antidepressant drugs) may include those on more than one class of drug, or, individuals who were also counted in the next year’s age bracket during a one-year period. The total number of people on all psychiatric drugs including age breakdown have been deduplicated so these are the total number of children prescribed drugs for the year.

 

All Psychiatric Drugs

All Ages — 76,940,157

          Age Breakdown:
          0-1 Years — 85,003
          2-3 Years — 138,822
          4-5 Years — 215,120
          6-12 Years — 2,652,554
          13-17 Years — 3,188,966
          18-24 Years — 5,535,171
          25-44 Years — 20,455,212
          45-64 Years — 25,202,893
          65 Years + — 19,114,040

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Antidepressants            

All Ages — 45,204,771

          Age Breakdown:
          0-1 Years — 7,811
          2-3 Years — 12,137
          4-5 Years — 18,911
          6-12 Years — 543,120
          13-17 Years — 1,605,375
          18-24 Years — 3,547,307
          25-44 Years — 12,839,606
          45-64 Years — 15,611,175
          65 Years + — 10,740,584

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ADHD Drugs                 

All Ages — 9,585,203

          Age Breakdown:
          0-1 Years — 310
          2-3 Years — 1,300
          4-5 Years — 57,010
          6-12 Years — 1,750,481
          13-17 Years — 1,409,438
          18-24 Years — 1,166,119
          25-44 Years — 3,242,762
          45-64 Years — 1,600,104
          65 Years + — 340,118

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Anti-anxiety Drugs         

All Ages — 31,229,150

          Age Breakdown:
          0-1 Years — 60,068
          2-3 Years — 89,453
          4-5 Years — 90,716
          6-12 Years — 357,976
          13-17 Years — 571,210
          18-24 Years — 1,591,219
          25-44 Years — 8,308,952
          45-64 Years — 11,340,444
          65 Years + — 8,487,756

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Antipsychotics               

All Ages — 11,154,803

          Age Breakdown:
          0-1 Years — 1,318
          2-3 Years — 7,873
          4-5 Years — 22,180
          6-12 Years — 304,754
          13-17 Years — 502,372
          18-24 Years — 1,057,823
          25-44 Years — 3,414,984
          45-64 Years — 3,563,164
          65 Years + — 2,170,963

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Mood Stabilizers            

All Ages — 21,863,616

          Age Breakdown:
          0-1 Years — 21,593
          2-3 Years — 36,986
          4-5 Years — 50,206
          6-12 Years — 289,262
          13-17 Years — 419,221
          18-24 Years — 946,376
          25-44 Years — 4,859,812
          45-64 Years — 8,387,108
          65 Years + — 6,700,511

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SOURCE: IQVia Total Patient Tracker (TPT) Database, Year 2020, Extracted January 2021.