Child, Teen Anti-Depressant Use Quadruples In UK

Here's a BBC item on anti-depressant use going up fourfold since the mid-1990s. The figures were unearthed by a cranky MP and concern kids and teens up to 16-years-old.

The BBC item continues:

"But there is also some debate as to whether mental health disorders really are rising within the young.

In its last major report on the prevalence of such problems in 2004, the Office of National Statistics found the figures were broadly unchanged from a previous survey in 1999.

One in 10 were found to have some form of disorder, ranging from the very minor to the very serious.

These latest figures on child prescriptions follow others which suggest that that the rate of anti-depressant prescriptions for the population as a whole has hit a record high.

More than 31m prescriptions for these drugs were issued in 2006 - a 6% rise on the year before.

The Royal College of General Practitioners accepted that depression could nt be cured by pills alone, and that better access to alternative therapies was essential.

However its chairman, Professor Mayur Lakhani, has rejected the suggestion that family doctors prescribe anti-depressants too readily.

"GPs consider the need for anti-depressants only after a careful assessment of the patient's clinical condition," he said.

Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity Sane, said: "While in some cases there may be a need for medication as part of a treatment plan, drugs should not be seen as the only solution."

Geez, and people thought we were crazy for meds over here.