Antidepressant Use Nearly Doubles

''Ten percent of the population is being treated with an antidepressant during the course of a year," he says. That compares to 5.8% in 1996, he found."

"The rate of antidepressant treatment increased from 5.84% to 10.12 % -- or from 13 million people to about 27 million, the researchers found."

"One exception to the trend involved African-Americans. "African-Americans really did stand out as one group that didn't experience a significant increase in antidepressant use," Olfson says. In 1996, 3.6% of African-Americans surveyed were on antidepressants and 4.5% in 2005."

"Major depression is more common. Two surveys found the prevalence of major depression in adults rose from 3.3% in 1991-1992 to 7.1% in 2001-2002."