ANP
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The use of antidepressants has increased significantly among young women in corona times. The increase started in the first months of 2021 (during the second lockdown) and continued at the beginning of this year, according to research by healthcare knowledge center Nivel. The question is why this group has started using more antidepressants.
Michelle Regnault (25) had had mental complaints for several years as a result of a nervous breakdown at the age of nineteen. For example, she suffers from an anxiety and panic disorder and she has a fear of contamination; complaints that worsened in corona time. “I am afraid of the supermarket and that was extra difficult in corona time. Moreover, I lived alone so I didn’t see anyone at all. That’s how you get isolated.”
Regnault previously used an antidepressant, but that was not successful at the time. Eighteen months ago, she was prescribed medication again at her own request. “I also suffer from irritable bowel syndrome and antidepressants can help with that. That was the deciding factor for me to try again.”
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Anna Vrind (18) was also positive about starting antidepressants. She has been taking the drugs since November last year. “I’ve had mental complaints for a long time. I have ADHD, irritable bowel syndrome and migraine; then a lot of things don’t go well together and as a result my mental health continued to deteriorate. I had a depressive episode that lasted two years.”
Vrind is still on the antidepressants and notices a lot of improvement. “It took a while, I had side effects such as headaches and stomachaches for the first few months. But after a while my mood got much better. I got more and more eager to do things.”
At Regnault, the drugs also turned out to work. “Against the irritable bowel syndrome and against my mental complaints. I was also in therapy and tried to do many activities, even though it was corona time. That certainly helped.”
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Nivel concludes that GPs prescribe almost 20 percent more drugs for anxiety and depression to young women than two years ago. It concerns girls and women between the ages of 15 and 24. For boys and men in that age group, the increase was less than 11 percent.
Nivel suspects that women suffered more from a lack of social contacts during corona time than men, and that women are more likely to go to the doctor with psychological complaints. However, the institute has not conducted any research into this. In general, Nivel states that young people “seem to be hit hard by lockdowns”.
“I think girls are a little more alert to mental complaints and do something about it faster,” says Vrind. “It may well be that fewer men have sought help,” Regnault said.
phasing out
Both women say they do not want to stop taking antidepressants. “Maybe I’ll go back a bit in dosage one day, but I’d like to keep using it, especially for my gut. It makes life more livable for me,” Regnault says.
Vrind: “I don’t want to taper off for the time being. I’d rather take a pill every day for the rest of my life than feel like such a cunt every day.”