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Doctors Dish Out 29million 'Happy Pills' to Patients

Posted on: Sunday, 27 November 2005, 09:00 CST

By VINCENT MOSS

BRITONS are popping record numbers of pills to beat the blues.

We now swallow THREE TIMES as many anti-depressants as we did around 20 years ago. Almost seven million were dished out in 1984, but last year that number rose to 29 million, the Department of Health says.

The amount spent on the pills has also soared from pounds 25million 20 years ago to pounds 400million last year. Around one in ten people will suffer from some form of depression in their lifetime - and more than two million people in Britain are now taking anti-depressants.

The figures - issued by Health Minister Jane Kennedy - prompted demands from MPs for action to end the nation's dependence on drugs such as Seroxat and Prozac.

Liberal Democrat MP Paul Burstow, a member of the Government's Health Committee, said: "These figures show a shocking dependence on drug treatments for depression. Ministers must take action to increase access to talking therapies with counsellors and psychologists."

Mental health charity Sane said more than half its 1,000 calls a week are related to depression, but only six per cent of the callers are getting "talking therapy".

Earlier this year, the Government issued guidelines telling doctors not to prescribe pills as a first- line remedy for youngsters, after figures showed 40,000 children are on anti- depressants.

news@sundaymirror.co.uk

COMMENT: Page 14

Consultant psychiatrist Dr KRIS ZAKRZEWSKI, depression expert

IT IS shocking that such a huge amount of money is spent on drugs to treat depression in Britain today.

GPs are often too busy to spend time looking into the causes of a patient's distress and tend to reach for their prescription pad as an easy solution. They are placing many people on drugs such as Prozac when what they really need is counselling.

GPs may also lack sufficient training in psychological matters and can't always make a proper diagnosis - better psychological training for medical staff is essential.

Source: Sunday Mirror; London

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