Antidepressant Prescriptions Hit Record High
Antidepressant prescriptions have hit a record high in England despite national guidance encouraging alternative treatments. The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence set guidelines in 2004 recommending that antidepressants should not be the first port of call for mild depression. Despite this, more than 31 million prescriptions for drugs (such as Prozac) were issued last year.
According to an article on the BBC website, the mental health charity Mind say the UK is “trailing behind other countries in the use of other therapies” and apparently “93% of GPs have prescribed drugs due to lack of alternatives”. However, Prozac is still recommended for those suffering severe depression as the benefits outweigh any potential risk.
June 13th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
[…] The study also suggested that the longer a person took it, the less depressed they’d become. There is growing concern in the UK that too many people are being prescribed drugs such as Prozac, and there is a clear need for alternative treatments for depression. […]