Closing As much as this point:
A assortment of factors were cited for the shatter in Russian mental health, namely the “culture of fear” created by the Kremlin
Antidepressants now deplorable 2nd in Russia’s retail pharmaceutical market by tag. (AI generated for illustration)
Russia, which has been in a battle with Ukraine for almost about four years, is tantalizing antidepressants at never-viewed-earlier than ranges.
A minimal of 22.3 million functions of remedy such as Prozac, the equivalent of £200million and almost double the amount sold in 2022, were sold final year, recordsdata from Russian analytics company DSM has published, the Telegraph reported.
Analysts have known as the growth worrisome pointing to a increasing mental health burden pushed by battle, economic stress, and political repression.
Numberspeak
Basically based utterly on market examine by Russian consultancy DSM, pharmacies sold 8.4 million functions of antidepressants in 2019. That resolve rose to 13 million in 2022, then climbed to fifteen.3 million in 2023 and 17.9 million in 2024, The Telegraph reported.
By 2025, annual gross sales reached 22.3 million functions, almost about three instances pre-pandemic ranges. DSM recordsdata also articulate that antidepressant gross sales grew by 36 p.c in 2025 by myself, a rate far bigger than in outdated years.
One other consultancy, RNC Pharma, estimated that gross sales might perchance well well additionally be even bigger, putting the entire at 23.5 million functions. Between January and October 2025, pharmacies sold 19.1 million functions. Retail turnover peaked in October at 15.7 billion rubles, the very ultimate month-to-month resolve ever recorded for antidepressants in Russia.
Moscow and the encircling Moscow Oblast accounted for 31 per cent of gross sales by tag, highlighting the stress felt in main metropolis centres the assign political adjust, economic strain, and social change are most intense.
Comparing it to Covid generation
The scale of the enlarge stands out compared with earlier crises. All the plot in which by the main year of the Covid-19 pandemic, pharmacies sold 7.9 million functions of antidepressants. In 2021, gross sales rose modestly to 9.2 million.
Those figures now seem low compared with post-2022 ranges. Analysts remark the right rise for the explanation that battle started aspects to a deeper and more sustained psychological impact than the pandemic.
What are Russians making an attempt to search out?
Antidepressants now deplorable 2nd in Russia’s retail pharmaceutical market by tag. Basically the most recurrently sold remedy embody sertraline, fluoxetine, and amitriptyline. Zoloft is the very ultimate-selling remedy in the country. Many of those remedy are Western-developed SSRIs such as Zoloft, Prozac, and Cipralex, regardless of state rhetoric main of the West.
Complaints about missing medicines rose to 22,700 in the main nine months of 2025, up from 19,100 in the same duration in 2024. Bigger than 63 p.c of complaints racy remedy unavailable on shelves, Moneycontrol reported.
Russia also lost 754 pharmacies between January and September 2025. Smaller towns and rural areas are especially affected, forcing residents to ride farther for basic medicines.
Causes leisurely the mental health crisis
A assortment of factors were cited for the shatter in Russian mental health, namely the “culture of fright” created by the Kremlin, according to Stanislav Stanskikh, a Russia expert, as more than 20,000 Russians were arrested for anti-war activity between 2022 and 2025.
The worsening cost of living crisis has also led to growing anxiety, with Putin’s war machine being prioritised over residents’ welfare, pensions and education.
Stanislav Stanskikh, a Russia expert, linked antidepressant use to these pressures. Speaking to The Telegraph, he said, “The increase is attributed to reduced stigma around seeking mental health care, stockpiling amid sanctions, and broader economic and social shocks.”
He added, “While the long-time duration mental health effects of authoritarian rule dwell debated, the World Health Organisation has repeatedly confirmed that wars and diverse noteworthy-scale emergencies leave lasting psychological penalties, ranging from power wound to PTSD and excessive mental disorders.”
More than a third of Russians believe the economy is getting worse – 10% more than in 2022 – a Gallup poll revealed, with nearly half saying it was a bad time to get a job and just under a third saying they struggled to afford food for themselves and their families. Citizens are now unable to buy everyday essentials such as potatoes, which have spiked in cost by 167% following failed harvests, according to an Express report.
Independent counts by Mediazona in collaboration with the BBC confirm that more than 160,000 Russian soldiers had been killed by the end of 2025. Analysts believe the real number is far higher, with estimates of total losses reaching over 350,000 when wounded and unreported deaths are included.
These figures do not capture the psychological trauma faced by returning soldiers, families, and communities affected by repeated mobilisation.
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First Published:
February 17, 2026, 16:04 IST
News explainers At War With Ukraine And Mind: Why Russians Are Turning To Anti-Depressants Explained
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