Nearly one million antidepressants were doled out to children in less than three years, new figures reveal. Between April 2015 and March 2018, 950,000 prescriptions were issued to children under 18 in the UK, according to data obtained from Freedom of Information requests.
Prescriptions rose from 290,393 in 2015-to-2016 to 330,616 in 2017-to-2018, with the sharpest increase being in the under 12s, where prescription numbers increased by 24 per cent.
Experts have blamed long waits for specialist mental health services for being behind children's increased reliance of depression medication. In rare cases, antidepressants can trigger thoughts of suicide and self harm in children.
Dr Shruti Garg, a Camhs consultant at the Manchester Foundation NHS Trust, added young people may also struggle in the period between leaving Camhs' care at 16 to being provided adult mental health support at 18.The Department of Health in England told the BBC it has pledged £1.7bn to transform Camhs. This money is due to go towards a wider range of therapies.
