Study: Mental health drug usage, spending on care increase

Separate studies published in the latest edition of the journal Health Affairs have found that the use of mental health drugs in the U.S. has increased dramatically in the past decade, as has per capita spending on mental health care (Source: “Mental-Health Drug Usage Rises,” Wall Street Journal, May 5, 2009).

The number of seniors getting "psychotropic" medications, including antipsychotic and dementia drugs, doubled between 1996 and 2006, one new study found. At the same time, the number of mental-health prescriptions for adults increased by 73 percent and prescriptions for children were up 50 percent. In 2006, one in 10 adults and one in 20 children reported having a prescription for a mental-health drug.

A separate study found per-capital spending for mental-health care has grown more than 30 percent over the 10 years ended in 2006, with almost all the increase due to psychiatric drug costs.