Background: Psychotropic medication use is common and increasing. Use of such drugs at the individual level over long periods has not been reported.
Aims: To describe antidepressant, anxiolytic and hypnotic drug use, and associations between such medication use and common mental disorder, over a 22-year period.
Method: Questions about psychotropic medication use and symptoms of common mental disorder were asked of more than 3000 members of the 1946 British birth cohort at multiple time points between ages 31 and 53 years.
Results: Prevalence of any antidepressant, anxiolytic or hypnotic use increased significantly from 1977 (30.6 per 1000) to 1999 (59.1 per 1000) as the cohort aged. Less than 30% with mental disorder used antidepressants, anxiolytics or hypnotics. Previous use of antidepressant, anxiolytic or hypnotic was a strong predictor of future use during an episode of mental disorder (odds ratios 3.0-8.4); this association became weaker over time.
Conclusions: Pharmacotherapy is infrequently used by individuals with common mental disorder in Britain; this has not changed in the past three decades.