Midwest youth lead nation in antidepressant use

New research is revealing an unexpected pattern in youth mental-health care: young people in the Midwest fill more antidepressant prescriptions than their peers in any other region. Pediatrician and researcher Kao-Ping Chua found the gap not only existed before the pandemic but grew even wider by 2022, especially among young women. What’s driving it remains unclear. Depression rates aren’t highest here, nor is access to prescribers. Chua now wonders whether limited mental-health resources in rural and low-income Midwestern communities are steering providers toward medication first — a trend he’s continuing to investigate.

Emily Corwin

MPR

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