Medications for Treatment of Mental Illness:Physician Prescribing Patterns and Their Implications

Using transaction records on prescriptions filled at retail pharmacies, we will present recent trends in prescribing by primary care provider (PCPs), psychiatric physicians, and all other specialties for groups of drugs widely recognized in the treatment of MH conditions. We find that primary care providers prescribe over half of all mental health drugs, including 6 out of every 10 prescriptions written for antidepressants and for anxiolytic, sedative hypnotics used to treat anxiety and sleep disorders. Drug prescribing for antipsychotics and antimanics primarily prescribed for schizophrenia and bipolar disease continues to be dominated by psychiatrists. However, the growth of managed care and managed behavioral health organizations, availability of drugs with fewer side effects, and direct-to-consumer advertising have pushed more prescribing of MH drugs into the primary care arena, creating opportunities for increased access for consumers and potential challenges in quality of MH treatment.