War sends Russia into a spiral of antidepressants

"Russians consume more antidepressants every year, topping even pandemic-era levels. Between an endless war against Ukraine, an economic crisis stemming from that conflict and the political repression, the country has registered record sales of the medications every year since the eruption of Covid-19 in 2020. Last year's total nearly tripled pharmaceutical consumption in 2019, the last year before this ill-fated decade. Data shared by the Russian consultancy DSM point to an increasingly serious situation."

"In 2025, the year in which peace negotiations were unsuccessfully reinitiated between Russia, Ukraine and the United States, sales of antidepressants grew 36% compared to 2024. That adds up to 22.3 million packages every year, for a population of around 143 million. In fact, the war has led to greater dependence on the medications than during the Covid crisis. For comparison, in 2021, just before the offensive against Ukraine began in February 2022, pharmacies sold 9.2 million packages in Russia."

"Another consultant agency, RNC Pharma, shared a report with the Russian newspaper RBK that pointed to a similar tendency, though it raised the estimation of antidepressants sold to 23.5 million last year. The war that Russia began nearly four years appears to have had a larger emotional impact on its population than the coronavirus, and era during which the Kremlin's response was notably lax, with barely any lockdowns."

Antidepressant sales in Russia have climbed steadily since 2020, with annual packages nearly tripling compared with 2019. DSM data show 2025 sales rose 36% from 2024 to about 22.3 million packages for a population of roughly 143 million, while RNC Pharma estimated 23.5 million. Pharmacy sales stood at 9.2 million in 2021 and 7.9 million during the pandemic. The domestic pharmaceutical market expanded to $273 million last year. The ongoing war, economic downturn and political repression are associated with increased reliance on antidepressants, a larger emotional impact than the coronavirus era noted by death and excess-death figures.

Read at english.elpais.com