Antidepressant prescriptions have risen in England
The people of UK are facing a serious problem and that is depression.
The extent of this disease can be known by the stats revealed by NHS Digital.
NHS Digital has revealed that 70.9 million antidepressant prescriptions were issued in England in 2018.
More than 13 million antidepressant prescriptions have risen from the previous year.
In 2017, 67.5 million prescriptions were issued for conditions like depression and anxiety.
They have also said that the amount has doubled since 2008.
This is a more worrying thing as these figures are of drugs that were issued through the NHS. They don’t include the figures of drugs issued in hospitals or in private prescriptions.
The figures for Scotland are just about same. The figures revealed last year showed that 6.6 million prescriptions were issued. In 2007-08, around 3.8 million were issued. This is a rise of 73.7%.
This condition is same for Wales and Northern Ireland.
There is a rise in the value of 168% in Wales from 2002 to 2017 with 5.6 million prescriptions.
There were 2.4 million prescriptions in 2013-14 but that has risen to 3.1 million in 2017-18.
A NHS England Spokesperson has said that the people have the ‘a pill for every ill’ mentality. This mentality is creating problems for themselves and the taxpayer’s money.
The chair of Royal College of GPs, Prof Helen Stokes-Lampard says that the family doctors prescribed drugs only when they are the best option.
She also says that the increased consumption of these drugs is not necessary a bad thing. She says that this increase in these drugs could be due to the awareness of mental health among the people.
Helen also said that nobody wants to take or prescribe drugs deliberately. They are prescribed when needed for the patient.
One representative of a metal health charity said that it is crucial for the resources to be used for the best way possible.
