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GP's Accused of Being Too Reliant on Antidepressants

As Depression Awareness Week approaches, GP’s are being accused of being too reliant on antidepressants when it comes to treating the illness, and of neglecting other options.
Lifestyle - 20 April 2012   Download IconContent available for download:  
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  News Hooks:

It’s the number one psychological disorder in the UK and 10 times more people suffer from it today than 60 years ago- but we’re investigating if Britain is relying too much on prescription drugs to deal with its depression problem.

Latest research shows that last year, 43.4 million prescriptions were dispensed for antidepressants - a figure 20% higher than four years ago; and with one in ten people living with the condition at any one time in the UK, sufferers are clearly demanding coping mechanisms.

However, with diagnosis rates lower than prescription rates, GPs have come under fire from mental health groups who say they’ve become too reliant on such an easy option. And as we approach Depression Awareness Week, there’s concern that sidelining other effective options, like natural products and talking therapies, could leave some sufferers drug dependent and no closer to tackling their condition.

. Introduction:

One in every ten people in the UK are suffering from it right now and millions are taking medication for it, but how many people have actually considered a more natural way to combat their depression? With just short of 50 million antidepressant prescriptions dispensed over the past year, mental health charities have accused GPs of becoming too reliant on such an easy way of dealing with patients and sidelining other options.

But what are the tell tale signs of depression and what can people do who think they might be suffering with the condition as we approach Depression Awareness Week?

Here to discuss this further is Dr Nina Bailey, a nutrition Scientist from Igennus. She is joined by Helen McNallen, who used to suffer from clinical depression which became medication-induced bipolar depression. Helen is a mental health awareness campaigner and also the founder of the not-for-profit website Depression Can Be Fun and author of a book of the same name.