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Prescriptions
given to children for depression quadruples in decade
July 26, 2007
by Angela Hussain
The number of prescriptions given to children aged under 16 for
depression and other mental health diagnoses has quadrupled in a
decade, according to official figures.
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.
The figures
were obtained by David Laws, the Liberal Democrat shadow children's
secretary.
These figures
on child prescriptions follow others which suggest that that the
rate of anti-depressant prescriptions for the population as a whole
has hit a record high.
The Royal College
of General Practitioners' chairman, Professor Mayur Lakhani, rejected
the suggestion that family doctors prescribe anti-depressants too
readily.
"GPs consider
the need for anti-depressants only after a careful assessment of
the patient's clinical condition," he told the BBC.
See also:
Jan
31, 2006: Prescribing of drugs to treat ADHD children doubled in
six years - figures revealed by National Institute for Health
and Clinical Excellence as it starts work on ADHD clinical guidelines
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