Increases In Child Depression Drug Prescriptions

“The number of prescriptions handed out to children under 16 for depression and mental health disorders has quadrupled in a decade, official figures indicate.

GPs in England wrote more than 631,000 such prescriptions for children in the last financial year, compared to just 146,000 in the mid-1990s.

But at the same time, figures suggest the rate of mental health problems in the young has not changed markedly. ”

It really does seem that we in the UK are heading in the same direction as the USA with regards to the over reliance on prescription drugs to “treat” children that show signs of mental health problems. GP’s claim that they are not prescribing more drugs to provide a quick and easy fix for a complex problem, but statistics seems to show that even though there are not more children with problems, more are being prescribed medication. Is this really good for the long term mental health of our nation?

Tweet Me!

Recommended Reading • Diet Pill Approved By NHS Although There Are Health Risks • Depressed Denied Exercise Help and Advice from NHS • Diet and nutrition • Steroid dose warning in children • Is The Obesity Crisis Now Under Control?

Tags: child health, children, Mental Health, prescription drugs

This entry was posted on Monday, July 23rd, 2007 at 6:47 pm and is filed under Health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.