Antidepressants as a commodity have been remarkably little-studied by economists. \ud This study shows in new data for 27 European countries that 8% of people (and \ud 10% of those middle-aged) take antidepressants each year. The probability of \ud antidepressant use is greatest among those who are middle-aged, female, \ud unemployed, poorly educated, and divorced or separated. A hill-shaped age pattern \ud is found. The adjusted probability of using antidepressants reaches a peak -- \ud approximately doubling -- in people‟s late 40s. This finding is consistent with, and \ud provides a new and independent form of corroboration of, recent claims in the \ud research literature that human well-being follows a U-shape through life. \ud