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Our data do not allow us to infer a causal relation. Distress, depressive symptoms, and anxiety are known to hinder social relations. Our research does not substitute experiments that can reveal causal mechanisms needed for practical applications.

Overall, the large scale of the data signals a previously undocumented correlation between the spatial diversity of social connections and mental health.

The dosage of antidepressants in subsequent years decreased more for patients who have spatially diverse networks. This latter relationship is stable after controlling for the local accessibility of antidepressants and is stronger for young individuals than for the elderly.

We find that, besides the cohesion of social networks around home, the diversity of connections to distant places is negatively correlated with the probability of antidepressant use. However, the significance of LC as a predictor of antidepressant use vanishes at high levels of SD.

Then, we proxy bonding social capital with a local cohesion (LC) indicator, which captures the tendency to participate in cohesive networks in subjects’ hometowns. We define an SD index that captures the capacity to connect diverse communities in distant towns as a proxy for bridging social capital.

Testing the correlation between network cohesion measured by the clustering coefficient and antidepressant use, we find a reversed U-shape. This result signals that both network cohesion and diversity can be important for mental health.

We link the prescription data to the iWiW online social network of 277,344 small-town residents on the individual level. This provides us an informative scale for the social network analysis of mental health.

We examine a nationwide dataset on antidepressant use in Hungary. Our prescription data do not capture undiagnosed mental problems or treatments without medication, but it does indicate depression, anxiety, or sleeping disorders on a population scale.

A vast literature has argued that cohesive networks and bonding social capital can help maintain mental balance by reducing anxiety, and depression. Due to data limitations, diverse networks have gained less attention despite their pivotal role in providing economic opportunities.