russians Are Buying up Antidepressants Amid Mobilization Risks

Sales of antidepressants are growing in russia against the background of the war against Ukraine and economic problems. From January to July 2025, pharmacy chains had sold 12.9 million packages of such medicines worth $118 million, which in monetary terms is by 36 % more than a year earlier.

Sales of anxiolytics, which reduce anxiety, increased by 10 % in the first half of this year and exceeded 9.3 million packages.

Note. By the end of 2023, about 15 million people in russia, or 10 % of the country’s population, were suffering from depression. During the same period, about 4 million russians were registered with psychiatrists, two-thirds of them – with anxiety and depressive disorders.

Doctors are seeing an increase in cases of depression, panic attacks, insomnia, and medication dependency. The growing demand for psychiatric medicines is happening against the background of a large-scale campaign to create a register of reservists. Since July, russians have been receiving mass notifications of their inclusion in the database, including female medical professionals, teenagers, and people with disabilities. The state duma emphasizes that the launch of electronic summonses does not mean the start of mobilization, but it is these notifications that have become a key factor in public anxiety.