An examination of the medicalization and pharmaceuticalization processes of anxiety and depressive disorders in Belgium between 2004 and 2013: how may both disorders be intertwined?

BACKGROUND: While medicalization and pharmaceuticalization trends of feelings of anxiety and depression have been described in great detail, an empirical examination of these trends is to date lacking. The current study fills this gap in the literature by mapping the use of psychotropic medicines for feelings of anxiety and depression between 2004 and 2013 in Belgium, as well as by examining whether a social gradient might act as a mediator. METHODS: We analyzed data from three repeated cross-sectional waves (2004, 2008, and 2013) of the Belgian National Health Interview Survey (HIS). Multinomial logistic regression was applied to estimate odds in psychotropic drugs use over the observed period. RESULTS: Using an ideal-typical distinction between traditional anxiety drugs (psycholeptics) and depression drugs (psychoanaleptics), we found that treatment methods for feelings of anxiety and depression were converging. Persons having feelings of anxiety consumed less psycholeptic drugs, in favor of psychoanaleptic drugs throughout the observed period. Moreover, these results were partially mediated by educational level. Persons with higher education were less likely to consume psychotropic drugs than those with lower education, suggesting a trend of demedicalization for feelings of anxiety and depression. LIMITATIONS: Our study observes a limited period, makes use of an ideal typical distinction between psycholeptic and psychoanaleptic drugs, and measurements may be biased by response-bias due to psychotropic drugs use. CONCLUSION: Our study shows that psycholeptics increasingly give way to psychoanaleptics in the treatment of both anxiety and depression, despite several scientists calling their effectiveness for both disorders into question. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s13690-022-00943-x.