These are countries with high consumption of antidepressants – The position of Greece

Its data on consumption in 32 countries of the world, including Greece, are revealing. The U.S. is seen as the country that consumes most antidepressant drugs in the world, but the new elements of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) that come to light reflect exactly what is happening. The OECD data published on the online scientific platform shows that Iceland has proportionally most of the residents taking antidepressants. The platform published the number of designated daily doses (DDD) antidepressants per 1,000 inhabitants in 32 countries in the world. Consumption was expressed at fixed daily doses because they take into account the different dosages of each drug per country. In this way a reliable comparison can be made between states. The information provided by the platform is from the OECD. According to this, in Iceland consumption of antidepressants is 161.1 doses per 1,000 people. This proportion corresponds to almost a sixth of its population. The country known for its long, dark winters has fewer than 400,000 permanent residents. In the second and third places in antidepressant consumption are Portugal and Canada, with 139 and 130 doses per 1,000 inhabitants. Australia is next with 122 doses. Although the US is not included in Our World in Data data data, earlier research had shown that they have 110 doses per 1,000 inhabitants. They are therefore ranked fifth in the world ranking. The following are Sweden and Britain, with 108.9 and 107.9 doses per 1,000 inhabitants respectively. In Greece The analysis includes Greece. We consume 70.6 doses per 1,000 inhabitants, which brings us to 12th place among the 32nd OECD states or 13th if the US is included. In the last three places in antidepressant consumption are Italy, Hungary and South Korea. They have 44, 29 and 27 doses per 1,000 inhabitants respectively. A study published in the medical inspection had attributed low consumption in South Korea with the fact that drugs are not available in all its areas. (78%) take depression as a sign of weakness. By Janna Soulaki / iatropedia.gr