Russia drowns in anxiety – medications are being sold like hotcakes. Since the beginning of 2025, antidepressant sales in Russia have surged amid the war against Ukraine and ongoing economic problems, according to Ukraine’s Foreign Intelligence Service.
By the end of 2023, around 15 million people in Russia, which is about 10% of the population, were experiencing depression. During the same period, approximately four million Russians were registered with psychiatrists, two-thirds of them with anxiety and depressive disorders.
From January to July, pharmacy chains sold 12.9 million packs of such medications worth $118 million, a 36% increase in monetary terms compared to the previous year.
Sales of anxiolytics, which reduce anxiety, rose 10% in the first half of the year, exceeding 9.3 million packs.
Doctors report an increase in patients experiencing symptoms of depression, panic attacks, insomnia, and drug dependence.
Pressure from electronic draft notices and social anxiety
The rise in demand for psychiatric drugs coincides with a large-scale campaign to create a register of military conscripts.
Since July, Russians have been receiving mass notifications about being added to the database, including female medical workers, teenagers, and people with limited fitness.
The Russian parliament emphasizes that the rollout of electronic draft notices does not signify the start of mobilization, but these messages have become a key driver of societal anxiety.
Earlier, Euromaidan Press reported that the Kremlin seeks to avoid repeating the social upheavals that followed the Soviet war in Afghanistan and is attempting to control demobilisation from Ukraine's war.
A high number of veterans with PTSD are returning home, posing dangers to their families.
Among the demobilized are individuals who have already served prison terms, including thieves, murderers, and rapists.
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