Antidepressant Drug Prescriptions Shot Up During Recession in England: Survey

The use of anti-depressant drugs in England soared during the long economic slowdown from 1998-2012, according to a study.

The survey reports by the Nuffield and the Health Foundation on prescription of antidepressant medications revealed a massive increase during the economic downswing that occurred between 1998 and 2012 in England.  For the study, researchers inspected the number of drug capsules or tablets given to patients suffering from depression by the National Health Service (NHS) across the country.

They found drug prescriptions from October 2012 to December 2013 was 71 items per 1,000 patients in NHS Brent to 331 items for every 1,000 people in NHS Blackpool.  

The agency experts also noted a sharp rise in antidepressant items from 15 million items during 1998 to 40 million items in 2012. The average annual increase in the drug prescription rose to 8.5 percent in the study period compared to earlier recorded rate of 6.5 percent.

"This striking increase is despite the incidence of depression having risen much more slowly over the same time period, meaning that either antidepressant were heavily under-prescribed in 1998, or they are heavily overprescribed now," wrote the researches in the new release, reports the Guardian.

"Some GP practices also prescribed far more antidepressant medicine than others even where their patients were similar - suggesting over-use or under-use in many parts of England. North-Eastern Part of England and London have the highest and lowest rate of antidepressant use, respectively."

However it was noted the prescription rates varied for different geographical locations similar to the trend observed in a 2011 survey by the Guardian.  The number is slightly low in regions having more number of men or people from low-income communities.

"It's striking that general practitioners were prescribing an extra 2.7 million antidepressants in 2012, compared to the trend we saw during the years of economic growth. That acceleration in the use of these drugs raises some difficult questions about the impact that poverty and unemployment can have on people's health," said Adam Roberts, senior research analyst at the Nuffield Trust, reports On Medica.

"Our research shows stark variation in antidepressant prescription rates between regions, ethnicities and age groups. While some variation is to be expected, the differences between regions suggest that there could be particular underlying problems in mental health for people in areas suffering from unemployment and poor housing."

The authors believe the results would help regulate over-prescription of anti-depressants and also educate patients about its damages on health. They urge doctors to consider other alternatives like counseling and talk therapy to help patients battle frustrations caused by financial difficulties.