More than half of young people surveyed said they believe antidepressants can be effective for depression, while views differed according to respondents’ own experience of mental ill-health. The weighted poll of 1,514 people aged 16 to 25 also found continuing concerns about addiction and a marked reluctance to disclose a prescription at work.
Overall, 58% considered antidepressants effective. That rose to 63–64% among respondents who had experienced depression, compared with 54% among those who had never experienced it. On safety, 65% overall said the medicines were safe: the figure was 74% among people currently experiencing depression, 70% among those who had recovered and 60% among those who had never had depression.
Experience shaped expectations
Asked how they would feel if prescribed antidepressants, 36–37% of respondents who had experienced depression said they would feel hopeful. Among those who had never experienced depression, 35% expected to feel worried and 27% hopeful. These are reported expectations, not measures of whether an individual would benefit from treatment.
Among respondents who described having experienced severe depression, 76% had tried talking therapies and 58% had tried antidepressants. Of those in that group who had taken antidepressants, 83% said they had found them helpful. The result reflects the experiences reported by this subgroup; it should not be treated as a clinical comparison between treatments or as a prediction for other patients.
Beliefs about dependence varied too. Among people who had never experienced depression, 45% thought antidepressants were addictive and 23% thought they were not. Among those currently experiencing depression, 36% thought they were addictive while 40% disagreed. A psychiatrist involved in the research said the medicines are not addictive drugs, but that doses should be reduced gradually when stopping. The poll measures public understanding; it does not establish medical facts or replace advice about a person’s prescription.
Privacy and trusted advice
Most respondents said they would be comfortable with friends or family knowing they had been prescribed antidepressants: 64% and 58% respectively. Only 25% would be comfortable with colleagues knowing, suggesting that openness may feel different in private and workplace settings. The survey did not ask why respondents felt this way, so the figures cannot identify the causes of that gap.
Asked whom they would trust for mental-health treatment advice, 73% said they would trust mental-health professionals a great deal or a fair amount. The comparable figure for GPs was 46%. Three quarters said they would trust generative artificial intelligence little or not at all, while 71% expressed little trust in social-media platforms for mental-health information.
The findings concern attitudes, reported experiences and trust—not treatment outcomes. The poll cannot show whether beliefs cause someone to seek care, nor whether respondents’ views match their later experience. Researchers involved in the announcement stressed that antidepressants do not work well for everyone, although they can help many people and may be used alongside psychological therapies or other support. Decisions about starting, changing or stopping medication should be discussed with a qualified health professional; the survey is not treatment advice.
How the poll was conducted
The online fieldwork took place from 17 July to 4 August 2026 among 1,514 people aged 16–25 in England, Scotland and Wales. Results were weighted to be representative of young adults in Great Britain in that age range. The fieldwork predates the October publication, so it records views gathered over the summer rather than a real-time measure of opinion.
In the poll, 53% said they had experienced depression, including 16% who said they were currently depressed. Those are self-reported responses, not diagnoses made through a clinical assessment. The results provide a snapshot of how young people describe treatment, stigma and advice; they do not establish the prevalence of a medical condition or settle questions about the effectiveness of treatment for any individual.
