Antidepressants Often Prescribed Without A Diagnosis

Antidepressants are the third most common type of medication prescribed in the U.S., with $10 billion a year in sales. Nearly three out of four of those prescriptions are written by non-psychiatric providers (many of them primary care physicians). A study in the journal Health Affairs reports that a growing number of patients receiving antidepressants from a doctor who isn’t a psychiatrist aren’t given an accompanying psychiatric diagnosis.

Antidepressants Often Prescribed Without A Diagnosis