More than one in ten American adults now takes medication for depression, and a new ABC News explainer just broke down exactly what those pills do once they enter the body.
Quick Take
- ABC News published a segment on September 23, 2026, titled “What to know about adults using antidepressants,” featuring psychiatrist Dr. Yalda Safai and ABC News’ Dr. Darien Sutton.
- The segment covers how antidepressants work and what happens physically and mentally when a person stops taking them.
- Federal health data show antidepressant use among adults has climbed steadily, with recent surveys putting current use as high as 16.6 percent.
- Medical guidance across multiple health authorities agrees that stopping antidepressants abruptly can trigger withdrawal symptoms, and slow tapering is the safer path.
A Fresh Explainer Tackles An Old But Growing Question
ABC News dropped its latest health explainer on antidepressants on September 23, 2026, pairing two medical voices for the segment. Psychiatrist Dr. Yalda Safai walks viewers through what these drugs do inside the body, while ABC News’ own Dr. Darien Sutton focuses on the flip side: what happens when someone decides to get off the medication. The piece landed on ABC’s Mental Health page as part of its ongoing health coverage lineup.
This is not new territory for ABC. The network has run similar explainers for well over a decade, covering everything from how selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors work to which side effects tend to show up and how long they last. That editorial pattern signals a network that treats antidepressant education as a recurring public need, not a one-off news item.
Just How Common Is Antidepressant Use Among American Adults?
The numbers back up why this topic keeps resurfacing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that 13.2 percent of adults used antidepressant medication in the prior 30 days during 2015 to 2018. By 2023, the CDC reported that 11.4 percent of adults took prescription medication specifically for depression, meaning more than one in ten adults. A separate 2026 nationally representative survey of over 30,000 adults pushed that figure even higher, finding 16.6 percent were currently taking an antidepressant.
Those figures matter because they show antidepressant use is not a fringe behavior. It is a mainstream part of American health care, which is exactly why straightforward, accurate public explainers carry real weight. A confused or scared patient who quits medication the wrong way can suffer needlessly, and a segment like ABC’s aims to close that knowledge gap.
How The Drugs Work And Why Timing Matters
ABC’s earlier archived reporting laid groundwork that likely informs this newer segment’s framing. One long-standing ABC health article noted that antidepressants generally take about four to six weeks before a person notices real therapeutic benefit. That delay trips up a lot of patients who expect quick relief and quit early, thinking the medicine simply is not working when it may just need more time.
Stopping Antidepressants Safely Is The Real Crux Of The Story
The harder half of the equation is getting off the medication. ABC’s own archived material describes something called discontinuation syndrome, which can bring dizziness, lightheadedness, and other symptoms if a person stops a drug abruptly. That warning lines up with guidance from the United Kingdom’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which recommends reducing the dose in stages, known as tapering, rather than quitting cold turkey.
The consistency here matters. Whether the source is a British health authority, an American teaching hospital, or ABC’s own decade-old health desk, the advice lands in the same place: slow and steady wins when leaving antidepressants behind. That kind of cross-source agreement gives patients and families a clear, low-drama roadmap instead of conflicting noise.
What This Means For Patients And Families Right Now
For the roughly one in ten American adults on these medications, the practical takeaway is simple. Give the drug time to work, expect several weeks before feeling a difference, and never stop suddenly without talking to a doctor about a tapering plan. ABC’s latest segment repackages decades of consistent medical guidance into a short, digestible format that meets people where they already look for health answers.
Sources:
youtube.com, www-cdn.abcnews.com, pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, abcnews.go.com
