In February this year (2021), Lord Alton of Liverpool asked Her Majesty’s Government how many anti-depressants have been dispensed to (1) people under 18 years old, and (2) primary school children in each of the past ten years; and what was the total cost to the NHS.
This was answered by Lord Bethell who gave the following statistics of the number of antidepressant items prescribed and dispensed in the community in England to patients aged under 18 years old.
In 2016, 329,954 antidepressant items were prescribed.
In 2019, the number was 379,134, and for the first 11 months of 2020, the number was 358,835 – on target for reaching almost 400,000 prescription items.
There is another significant fact that goes with the figure for 2020; 14,187 of those antidepressant prescription items were for children aged 5 to 11.
Lord Alton is reported to have said:
”This is the drugs problem we talk too little about.
“The vast numbers – now around 70 million prescriptions for antidepressants every year – and the escalating phenomenal cost to the NHS tell their own story.
“The UK is awash with antidepressant drugs costing a staggering £2.5 billion over the past 10 years – including thousands prescribed to children aged five to 11.
“With a further rise in the number of prescriptions the Government needs to say how many of these prescriptions are new and how many are repeat prescriptions, and it needs to give much greater thought as to why so many people have become dependent on antidepressants.
“If the overuse of antibiotics is creating cause for concern – and rightly so – should we not also be exercised by the overuse of antidepressants and our failure to address toxic loneliness, unhappiness, depression and isolation?
“Too often we put a poultice on a problem rather than attacking the root causes.”
Yes, we should be concerned about the overuse of antidepressants, but more importantly, we should be concerned about the use of antidepressants generally and the damage that’s occurring as a result of their use.
Here is an extract from the booklet ‘ANTIDEPRESSANTS: the facts about the effects,’ information psychiatrists would prefer to keep hidden.
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INTRODUCTION
Although antidepressants were once reserved for the mentally disturbed, today it is difficult to find someone who has not taken one.
In fact, these drugs have become such a part of life for many people that “life without them” is simply unimaginable.
If you are one of these people or know someone who is, this booklet is for you.
Prescribed for everything from learning and behavioural problems, bed-wetting, juvenile delinquency, aggression, criminality, drug addiction and smoking, to handling the fears and problems of our elderly, antidepressants are among the most widely prescribed drugs on Earth, with fifty-four million worldwide currently on them.
But for many, taking antidepressants comes at a severe cost.
Eleven-year-old Candace loved life. She was on the swim team, played soccer and basketball, and loved to trampoline. What made her nervous, though, were exams, and for this she was prescribed an antidepressant. On January 10, 2004, Candace hanged herself in her bedroom at the age of 12.
Nine months later, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ordered its strongest “black box” warning to alert parents that antidepressants can cause suicidal thoughts and feelings in children under 18.
But children are not the only ones experiencing these thoughts while on antidepressants.
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Download your copy of the booklet here so you are fully informed on the subject.
