In recognition of “Talk About Prescriptions Month,” I wanted to share some newfound knowledge concerning America’s pill poppin’ trends.

Worldwide, the pharmaceutical industry has annual worth of $300 billion.

This number is sure to increase over the next decade — possibly even double, according to the World Health Organization.

The United States is home to six of the planet’s largest drug companies: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Abbott Laboratories, Merck & Co., Eli Lilly and Bristol-Meyers Squibb.

The industry’s expansion is inevitable, according to a study conducted by the American Action Forum.

Pharmaceuticals will continue to boom. Allergan, Inc. and Merck, both U.S. pharmaceutical companies, ranked 448 and 57, respectively, in Fortune 500’s 2012 race.

And as years seem to stroll by, the medical field continues to advance.

This is the question: will this rapid progression benefit or harm Americans?

The advancement of medical equipment and technology continues, which is much promising and much needed.

And our knowledge of diseases and potential treatments and cures is expanding.

A Nevada-based company recently released a heat signature bra that can possibly detect the presence of breast cancer years before it is seen on a mammogram or MRI, according to the Discovery Channel.

That’s progress.

Prescription drugs in the United States, however, are becoming heavily relied upon and by all ages — even us college students.

Prescriptions effortlessly fly into the hands of billions of people every year — over four billion in 2011, to be exact.

Americans should consider themselves spoiled because today, there is a pill for everything.

As 20-somethings, many of us face issues of depression, anxiety, stress, insomnia, weight — the list goes on.

I can think of at least six people I know under 30 who are currently taking anti-anxiety and depression medications.

And that’s just my circle of friends. Imagine a campus of 20,000.

When did this rise in prescription drug use come about?

And which medications are prescribed most often in the United States?

Over the past two decades, the states have seen a dramatic increase in the amount of medical prescriptions.

In 2010, Americans spent more than $16 billion on antipsychotics, $11 billion on antidepressants and $7 billion for drugs to treat attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), according to the American Psychological Association.

Sounds scary, does it not? I was initially out to prove that prescription drugs were taking America by storm — the violent kind.

But that’s the glory of research. Sometimes it feels great to be wrong.

I expected to find that doctors were prescribing more pain medication than anything else.

In reality, nine of the 10 most-prescribed medications in the United States in 2010, according to the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics, were treatments for­ high cholesterol and blood pressure, over and underactive thyroid, angina, heartburn and acid reflux, diabetes and infections, such as strep throat.

All good causes, aside from Hydrocodone, a pain medication that was also on the list.

High volumes of pain killing prescriptions have become a trend in America — not a positive statistic.

And, it does not conceal the fact that many Americans are overmedicating and self-medicating habitually.

Overdosing on prescription painkillers takes 15,000 lives every year, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

So, despite the pleasant fact that Americans are receiving proper medical attention for serious medical conditions, others are abusing the advantage.

We are becoming enslaved, addicted to something that was created to help.

It is my hope that the positive statistics continue to outweigh the unfortunate.