Shalini Ramachandran

How much did the patients you spoke to typically know about this going in?

In 2020, the FDA required drug makers to add a warning on benzodiazepines about the serious risks of abuse, dependence, and withdrawals.

It also called for proper guidelines for doctors to help patients taper off the drugs.

Still, more than 86 million benzo prescriptions were written just last year in the U.S.

Globally, benzos are a multi-billion dollar industry.

North America is its largest market.

Shalini and Betsy put their findings about long-term benzo use in a story that they published earlier this year.

That was the plan, was to publish one story.

But there was a whole other class of widely prescribed psych drugs that they hadn't even begun to look into.

Benzodiazepines and antidepressants are some of the most prescribed psychiatric medications in America.

They're so common that they've made a mark on American culture and become household names.

It started in the 60s and 70s with one of the earliest benzo drugs to hit the market, Valium.

After benzos, another class of drugs came on the scene, SSRIs, a type of antidepressant that affects serotonin levels in the brain.

Last year, there were 347 million antidepressant prescriptions written in the U.S.

alone, though a lot of people tend to be on multiple medications at the same time.

And Betsy says these prescriptions are easier to access than ever, as telehealth clinics like HIMS and HERS are able to prescribe them virtually these days.

In a statement, a HIMS and HERS spokesperson said, quote, We're proud that these efforts have helped people connect with qualified clinicians and get the care they need.

But Shalini, you were saying earlier that benzos are not meant for long-term use.

Betsy found that in the last couple years, more Americans are taking antidepressants than ever, especially young women.

And in this living experiment, there isn't a lot of data about long-term use.