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pnw a day ago

Aren't the Nordic countries listed at the top also the highest consumers of anti-depressants? I only know this because having travelled to the Copenhagen airport many times with Danish colleagues, one of them mentioned it when we saw the inevitable "Welcome to the happiest country on Earth" posters.

andsoitis a day ago | parent | next [-]

> Aren't the Nordic countries listed at the top also the highest consumers of anti-depressants?

Here's a report of the countries with most antidepressant users in the world 2024 (https://ceoworld.biz/2024/05/12/revealed-countries-with-most...):

1. Iceland

2. Portugal

3. UK

4. Canada

5. Australia

6. Sweden

7. Spain

8. New Zealand

9. Chile

10. Belgium

This report lists OECD countries but excludes the US. If the US were included, the report suggests the US would be among the top (either highest or second-highest) in terms of DDD per 1,000 inhabitants.

femto a day ago | parent [-]

That could be because the "happy" countries have good health systems with wide coverage, so the people that need anti-depressants get them. In the "sad" countries people with depression often don't get to see a doctor, so a whole lot of people have undiagnosed and unmedicated depression.

MangoToupe a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Putting aside the silliness of trying to quantify happiness, that could just as easily be a marker of wealth or western fascination with chemicals. I've visited extremely poor countries & from what I can tell, antidepressants aren't going to make a dent in many if not most issues humans face.

tokai a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Turns out people are happy living places where they can get help and treatment.

throwmeaway222 a day ago | parent [-]

Probably happy where you can get a job.

paxys a day ago | parent | prev [-]

[flagged]

cesarvarela a day ago | parent | next [-]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_antidepre...

paxys a day ago | parent | next [-]

> The OECD have not included the United States in these reviews, but if added the country would have the highest or second-highest rate.

Nordic countries are also not on the top of the list.

This is basically just a list of developed countries where people can afford luxury medication.

impossiblefork a day ago | parent [-]

It could also be a matter of the seasons in the case of Iceland.

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