Awareness about Non-Prescribed Usage of Antidepressants among University Students in Faisalabad, Pakistan

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University students are most commonly vulnerable to depression among all the other age groups. Antidepressants are mostly used without proper prescription due to lack of awareness and various other factors like negative attitudes, misconceptions, and lack of education, often impacting the proper utilization of antidepressants. This study aims to gauge the awareness and knowledge of university students regarding the non-prescriptive use of antidepressants and to explore students' understanding of the associated side effects. A cross sectional study was performed among 1740 students of both medical and non-medical background from a public sector university, of Faisalabad. Data were collected by using an online questionnaire that contained 26 close ended and 6 demographics-based questions. The questionnaire was designed after thorough discussion with health care professionals. Descriptive statistics were applied in order to analyze the data. The results showed, among total participants (1740), 35.53% agree that females are more prone to depression in comparison to males 18.62%. In terms of economy, 88.28% participants believe that depression badly affects the economy. 92.02% respondents believe that depression remains undiagnosed due to non-cooperative behavior of society and other factors like lack of awareness, and hesitation. Survey showed, 89.06% students do not get any treatment for depression due to lack of awareness. The prevalence of lack of awareness among university students about non prescribed use of antidepressants and their associated side effects was alarming. Universities can take various initiatives to raise the awareness among students regarding non prescribed use of antidepressants like utilization of mobile health apps, establishment of counseling centers, stigma reduction campaigns and collaboration with health services.