Express Scripts, a pharmaceutical benefits management company, produces annual drug trend reports.   The information in this slide was obtained from the most recent Drug Trend Report (published in April 2010).  Approximately 10% of U.S. residents used an antidepressant at some time in 2009; 4% used anticonvulsants; 2% used stimulants; and approximately 2% used an antipsychotic.
	These numbers exclude drug use by non-commercially insured patients, such as veterans and active duty military personnel; institutionalized patients (e.g., residents of nursing homes, prisons, jails, and state hospitals); and patients who rely upon publicly funded programs, such as Medicaid and Medicare.
	How Did They Do It:
	Prescription drug use was evaluated by examining pharmacy claims from two independent, random samples of approximately 3 million commercially insured individuals.  The prevalence of use was calculated by dividing the # of insured members taking medications in a certain drug class by the total number of insured.
	To place the aforementioned figures in context,  the Express Scripts database revealed the following patterns of non-psychiatric drug use in 2009:
	pain killers        17.8%
	heart disease, hypertension       15.7%
	high cholesterol drugs      12.1%
	asthma medications        8.7%
	ulcer disease (antacids)        8.2%
	diabetes           5.0%
	anti-virals          4.5%