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"Our intention is to educate the public about the symptoms of these disorders so that people with serious mental illnesses will seek treatment”, said Dr. David Osprey, a psychiatrist and group director for a clinical psychiatric research company.

But it’s the publicity that has caused many mental-health experts to suspect that many people are getting medication for mental disorders and anxiety attack symptoms that were once believed to be relatively rare.

For example, after Paxil was approved to treat social phobia in 1999. The company nearly tripled its advertising spending, from $31.5 million in 1999 to $91.7 million in 2000. In April 2001, the FDA approved the drug for generalized anxiety disorder as well. In the first six months of 2002, advertising for the drug topped the $60-million mark, according to figures compiled by CMR, a market research company.