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Sales of antidepressants in Russia surged during coronavirus lockdown as alarm spread about effects of pandemic
An industry monitor has reported that the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, and the introduction of a self-isolation regime in many regions, resulted in a significant uptake in the consumption of mood stabilizers in Russia.
Analysts at DSM Group – which analyzes all sectors of the pharmaceutical industry – studied data on sales of antidepressants and noticed a marked increase in sales of these drugs, during the period from March 1 to June 1 of this year.
Over the three months, sales of antidepressants increased by an average of 10 percent compared to the same timeframe in 2019.
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In total, from the beginning of March to the beginning of June, 2.3 million packages were sold for a total amount of more than 1.4 billion rubles ($20 million).
In March, as the pandemic caused growing alarm, sales of antidepressants ratcheted up 35 percent year-on-year. In the first two weeks of the month, growth was more than 60 percent.
DSM Analysts then noticed a gradual decrease in demand for antidepressants, starting in April.
Earlier this month, industry experts found that sales of disinfectants also spiked in Russia this year – up by around 1,100 percent on normal levels.
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