Have you ever been prescribed an antidepressant?
And, are you an adult, who lives in Canada?
If so, we want to hear from you!
Between 2020 and 2024, IQVIA Canada* found that antidepressants were the mostly commonly prescribed category of drugs used to treat “mental health disorders” in Canada. Their data showed over 70 million prescriptions for antidepressants in 2024, which was an increase of 18.5% of prescriptions issued in 2020. More specifically, 73,063,559 prescriptions were dispensed in 2024, compared to 61,674,410 in 2020.
*In 2025, IQVIA Canada – a world leader in healthcare data analytics – published an independent report titled, ‘Medication Treatments for Mental Health Disorders in Canada’. IQVIA’s data comes from fully anonymized prescriptions of psychiatric medications dispensed by a group of pharmacies between 2020 and 2024. Their data represent about 80% of all prescriptions issued in Canada (new prescriptions and renewals). IQVIA used estimation algorithms to determine the remaining 20%, and come up with a representative collection of data.
INFORMED CONSENT AND ANTIDEPRESSANTS
In the fall of 2025 Mad in Canada started the process of investigating the topic of informed consent to treatment and the prescription of psychiatric medications. Our interest in this topic was inspired by years of anecdotal evidence collected by members of our editorial team. It’s been our collective experience that the process of providing people with the opportunity to give informed consent to treatment when they are prescribed psychiatric medications is often incomplete, or even rare. We’ve also found evidence (gathered anecdotally and through research publications) that suggests greater understanding among prescribers and users, about the nature of psychiatric medications, is needed. Because antidepressants are the most commonly prescribed class of psychiatric medications, we’ve decided to focus on them.
MAD IN CANADA SURVEY – INFORMED CONSENT DURING THE PRESCRIPTION OF ANTIDEPRESSANTS
Mad in Canada has created a short survey aimed at shedding light on the informed consent process experienced by adults who are living in Canada, and who have been prescribed antidepressants at some point in their life.
Our survey is not about whether people should or should not take antidepressants.
It’s about what people are being told about the potential effects of antidepressants, when they are prescribed.
As more is being learned and understood about the potential short- and long-term effects of antidepressants – and as this information becomes more publicly accessible – the need for established, and comprehensive informed consent protocols is becoming increasingly clear. We hope the results of our survey will serve as a meaningful source of data to inform much-needed action!
Our survey consists of a short demographics section, 10 main questions, and one additional question. We expect it will take about 5 minutes to complete. At the end of the survey we’ve included some information intended to address questions and concerns you may have.
Our survey is completely anonymous. We are not collecting IP addresses, or any information that could link your answers to you.
If you’d like to take our survey, you can access it here or through the QR code below.
