Psychotropic Medication Utilization and Mental Health Impacts During Pandemics
Summary
Pandemics such as COVID-19 have precipitated a marked rise in psychological distress, manifesting as elevated rates of depression, anxiety and sleep disturbance. In response, global utilisation of psychotropic medications—including antidepressants, anxiolytics and hypnotics—surged during initial lockdowns, reflecting both stockpiling and acute symptom management. Following early peaks, prescription patterns have varied by region, age and sex, with evidence of sustained elevated use in younger cohorts and women. Disruptions to in-person services spurred rapid expansion of telemedicine, reshaping access to pharmacotherapy and revealing systemic inequities between high- and low-resource settings. Epidemiological modelling demonstrates that the burden of depressive and anxiety disorders, measured in prevalence and disability-adjusted life years, increased substantially during pandemic periods. These trends underscore the imperative to integrate robust mental-health resources into emergency preparedness, align prescribing practices with evolving population needs and ensure monitoring of adverse reactions and long-term outcomes.
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Psychotropic Medication Utilization and Mental Health Impacts During Pandemics publication trend
The graph below shows the total number of articles in psychotropic medication utilization and mental health impacts during pandemics across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).
Technical terms
Psychotropic medication: Any drug that acts on the central nervous system to alter mood, cognition or behaviour.
Antidepressants: A class of psychotropic drugs used primarily to treat depressive disorders by modulating neurotransmitter systems.
Anxiolytics: Medications designed to reduce anxiety and related symptoms, often acting on GABAergic pathways.
Hypnotics: Sedative agents prescribed to induce or maintain sleep, typically affecting central inhibitory neurotransmission.
Interrupted time-series analysis: A quasi-experimental statistical method that evaluates the effect of an intervention or event by comparing trends before and after its occurrence.
Disability-adjusted life years (DALYs): A metric combining years of life lost due to premature mortality and years lived with disability, used to quantify overall disease burden.
References
- Utilization of antidepressants, anxiolytics, and hypnotics during the COVID-19 pandemic. Translational Psychiatry (2024).
- Global prevalence and burden of depressive and anxiety disorders in 204 countries and territories in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Lancet (2021).
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