Trends in CNS prescribing following the economic slowdown.

We investigated total prescription and new prescription trends before and after the economic slowdown beginning in September 2008. Over the July to November timeframe, both total prescriptions and new prescriptions for sleep aids, benzodiazepines, and antidepressants increased. There appears to be a small spike in the number of total and new prescriptions following September 2008, although this increase was not enough to cause a statistically significant change in the overall rate of increase of prescriptions over time. Discussion of data is provided.