Australia has one of the highest rates of antidepressant use in the world.
But new research shows that it’s not just adults who are getting more medication for mood swings.
Australian children are now receiving more anti-depressant medication, according to a study by the Daily Telegraph.
One in 33 children – including pre-school children – are now taking medication to prevent mental illness.
Dr Paul Robertson, head of adolescent psychiatry at the Royal College of Psychology of Australia and New Zealand (RANZCP), said defenders against depression were prescribed ‘too often’ and said Australian practice was not ‘growing according to the different directions around the world’.
He said he had seen such medications prescribed for children as young as four years old.
“I think it may not be mostly appropriate and a different kind of intervention is needed,” he said.
a month agoAlthough antidepressant medication is not registered for the treatment of depression in anyone under the age of 18 in Australia, more than 175,000 young people were found to be using antidepressant medications.
This is a move that doctors say is out of ‘despair’ because of the cost of seeing psychiatry and the cost.
“It’s a very difficult thing when you’re at the front line, the other day there was someone under the age of ten who is facing six to 12 months to try to get into someone,” said a former president of the Medical Association of Australia (AMA) and GP Dr Chris Moy.
Despite the frequent side effects of antidepressants, a Productivity Commission study on mental health last year found that many people prescribed them to people without mental illness.
“We have heard worrying evidence about the side effects of some mental health drugs, including dramatic weight gain, elimination of lethargy, sexual dysfunction and self-sufficiency,” the Commission added. GPs prescribing the drugs need re-education.