Anti-anxiety medication prescriptions spike during coronavirus pandemic, report finds

Anti-anxiety medication prescriptions have increased during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report.

Prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs have spiked 34% from Feb. 16 to March 15, according to a report from Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager owned by Cigna.

The World Health Organization designated COVID-19 a pandemic on March 11, according to Business Insider.

Anti-depressant and anti-insomnia drug prescriptions also increased during that same time frame by 18.6% and 14.8% respectively, according to the report.

Use of benzodiazepines including Xanax, Klonopin, Ativan and Valium had decreased 12.1% over the last five years, according to the new report.

The report is based on an analysis of anti-depressant, anti-anxiety and anti-insomnia prescription claims filled between Jan. 19, 2020, and March 15, 2020, using a sample of more than 31.5 million people.

The pandemic has resulted in increased anxiety throughout the U.S., health experts said.

“We are seeing increasing levels of anxiety [in the U.S.] over a relatively short period of time,” Vaile Wright, director of clinical research and quality at the American Psychological Association, told Stat News.

COVID-19 can also be a potential trigger for the 19.1 percent of adults who already have an anxiety disorder, The Washington Post reported..

“This is definitely a trigger for a lot of patients,” Krystal Lewis, a clinical psychologist at the National Institute of Mental Health, told The Washington Post. “For anyone who might have OCD or specific concerns about getting sick, once you start seeing those signs pop up even more, and the Purell is everywhere, it can be really tough.”

This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 1:50 PM with the headline "Anti-anxiety medication prescriptions spike during coronavirus pandemic, report finds."