http://goo.gl/W2UMHB
One in ten children and young people suffer from some kind of mental health problem, including depression and anxiety. Concerns about under-diagnosis and under-treatment contrast with worries about over-prescribing and the medicalisation of unhappiness in young people.
The research found that:
- Antidepressant prescribing rose significantly, by 28%, mainly in older adolescents
- Depression diagnoses showed a steady decline by just over a quarter, while symptoms of depression more than doubled
- Unlicensed citalopram prescribing occurs outside current guidelines, despite its known toxicity in overdose
- Just over half of new antidepressant prescriptions were associated with depression. The rest were associated with diagnoses such as anxiety and pain
The findings led the researchers to call for new strategies to implement current guidance for managing depression in children and young people.