Many U.S. Adults Take Medicines That Can Cause Depression

If you start feeling down, it could be something you’ve been taking for another medical problem. More than one in three people in the United States take a medication that could be causing them to experience depression. Many of these medications are ordinary, even common, though most patients taking them aren’t aware of the documented potential for depression to be one of the side effects.

As human live longer thanks to modern medical practices, including pharmaceutical improvements, it exposes us to a number of health problems that we might not otherwise experience were we to die sooner as people who came before generally did. Some of the drugs we take to treat these health conditions have problematic side effects, especially when the various medicines interact when taken at the same time.

Medical researchers are finally starting to try to narrow down on the problem of medication caused depression. More than twenty-six thousand adults were surveyed. Fifteen percent of those who reported they were experiencing depression were taking multiple medications that can cause that as a side effect. Only five percent of respondents not on medication reported experiencing depression symptoms. Patients should be aware of changes in themselves, and talk to their doctors. In many cases, there are alternative medications that can be used to reduce or eliminate the mental health side effects.

Key Points:

  • 1A study shows that there is a correlation between prescription medications and depression.
  • 2If people feel depressed it may be important to look into what medications they are on.
  • 3It is unclear how medication can cause depression, just that it does.


Often, patients have several medicines prescribed by multiple doctors, increasing the potential for them to take drug combinations with dangerous side effects.
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Written by HealthStatus
Medical Writer & Editor

HealthStatus has been operating since 1998 providing the best interactive health tools on the Internet, millions of visitors have used our health risk assessment, body fat and calories burned calculators. The HealthStatus editorial team has continued that commitment to excellence by providing our visitors with easy to understand high quality health content for many years.

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