Thousands of antidepressants are being prescribed for children as young as five on the NHS with the number growing each year, official figures show.
The data for England, provided in a parliamentary written answer by health minister Lord Bethell, reveals an increase in drugs being issued to under-18s, from 329,954 in 2016 to 379,134 in 2019.
In the first 11 months of last year, 358,835 antidepressant items were dispensed in the community to youngsters, indicating a continued year-on-year upswing.
The true figure is likely to be higher as it does not include medication prescribed in secondary care by hospitals and specialist services.
The total bill for these prescription items dispensed over a five-year period to this group alone topped £9 million.
A breakdown of the data also shows an annual rise in the number of antidepressants issued to children aged five to 11, growing from 12,988 in 2016 to 14,529 in 2019.
In the period to November last year 14,187 prescription items were dispensed to patients in this age group, again signalling continued growth.
A separate parliamentary answer also revealed the overall number of antidepressants dispensed in the community has soared by more than 50% over the last decade at a total cost of £2.5 billion.
The figures were obtained in response to written questions submitted by independent crossbencher Lord Alton of Liverpool.
The peer and former MP said: 'This is the drugs problem we talk too little about.
'The vast numbers - now around 70 million prescriptions for antidepressants every year - and the escalating phenomenal cost to the NHS tell their own story.
'The UK is awash with antidepressant drugs costing a staggering £2.5 billion over the past 10 years - including thousands prescribed to children aged five to 11.
'With a further rise in the number of prescriptions the Government needs to say how many of these prescriptions are new and how many are repeat prescriptions, and it needs to give much greater thought as to why so many people have become dependent on antidepressants.
'If the overuse of antibiotics is creating cause for concern - and rightly so - should we not also be exercised by the overuse of antidepressants and our failure to address toxic loneliness, unhappiness, depression and isolation?
'Too often we put a poultice on a problem rather than attacking the root causes.'
Digger said
Mar 5 12:23 AM, 2021
This is appalling. Truly shocking. I'm aghast that any doctor would even consider giving a child drugs like this. I mean, we are all going to hell in a fucking handcart here. Truly.
Syl said
Mar 5 12:27 AM, 2021
Bloody hell.....No 5 year old should feel depressed and they certainly shouldn't be prescribed mind altering drugs.
Digger said
Mar 5 12:35 AM, 2021
I feel we humans are slowly but surely losing something vital with regards to what really matters in life.
Maddog said
Mar 5 12:41 AM, 2021
I think you can thank us for that.
It's been fairly common over here for years.
And it's appalling. Young people no longer know how to cope, and every minor adversity is tantamount to The Blitz now.
So between whining about everything, they get medicated.
Funny how we have increases in mass shootings and suicides too.
Syl said
Mar 5 1:04 AM, 2021
Family breakdown and the internet both have to be the main causes of the problems with young kids.
Children seem to be either over analyzed or just not talked to. Even something as simple as sitting round a table and sharing family meals seems to be a distant memory in many modern families.
Kids sit in their rooms playing internet games in isolation, it's not surprising they are unhappy.
John Doe said
Mar 5 1:51 AM, 2021
Fucking hell.
I basically ruined my life until I was 30 because of truedepression/anxiety/agoraphobia and hiding it and self medicating with booze.
I might be the black sheep of the family but at least I really tried and still am.
These people make me sick.
Magica said
Mar 5 3:08 AM, 2021
Giving antidepressants to 5 yr olds is disgusting. They're turning our kids into namby pambys. What in heavens name would a kid of that age have to be depressed about. It's bloody ridiculous!
This is an old story. Shows how long the problem has been over here.
It really pisses me off. I can be a bit callous towards the suffering of adults, but I'm a huge advocate for protecting kids from this nonsense.
Syl said
Mar 5 1:26 PM, 2021
frightening.
When my son was very young he was diagnosed as hyperactive. Most Dr's in the mid 1970's didn't even know what that was, one Dr diagnosed my son from reading some research from the US.
My son literally didn't seem to need to sleep, was often awake all night, even though I made sure he was active in the day.
More than one Dr (we saw several) prescribed phenegren in liquid form. The first night I gave it I watched over him all night because he went into a deep sleep, very rare for him....he was by then about 10 months old.
Soon after we went on holiday, the phenegren by now wasn't working , he had been on it a week or so, a very small amount, I took him to a local clinic whilst we were away because he was screaming a lot and the Dr there said to up the dose to relax him, she had given it to her own son, and she dished it out as and when.
I stopped immediately, it just didn't seem right to keep sedating a baby.
He had really bad problems with sleeping and eating till he was over 3, but we dealt with it by trying to limit sugar in his diet, keeping him very active, and taking him on long walks (sometimes I had blisters on my feet but son was still running around with boundless energy, and still not sleeping day or night)
When he was exactly three years 4 months old, (coincidentally the exact age my brother died) he went to bed and slept the night through, from then on , he slept normally.
His hyperactivity didn't lessen much but he and we coped with it without any more drugs to subdue him.
As an afternote, I do believe a lot of parents believe their children are hyperactive when they are just normal boisterous lads.
-- Edited by Syl on Friday 5th of March 2021 01:07:10 PM
John Doe said
Mar 5 2:44 PM, 2021
Syl wrote:
frightening.
When my son was very young he was diagnosed as hyperactive. Most Dr's in the mid 1970's didn't even know what that was, one Dr diagnosed my son from reading some research from the US.
My son literally didn't seem to need to sleep, was often awake all night, even though I made sure he was active in the day.
More than one Dr (we saw several) prescribed phenegren in liquid form. The first night I gave it I watched over him all night because he went into a deep sleep, very rare for him....he was by then about 10 months old.
Soon after we went on holiday, the phenegren by now wasn't working , he had been on it a week or so, a very small amount, I took him to a local clinic whilst we were away because he was screaming a lot and the Dr there said to up the dose to relax him, she had given it to her own son, and she dished it out as and when.
I stopped immediately, it just didn't seem right to keep sedating a baby.
He had really bad problems with sleeping and eating till he was over 3, but we dealt with it by trying to limit sugar in his diet, keeping him very active, and taking him on long walks (sometimes I had blisters on my feet but son was still running around with boundless energy, and still not sleeping day or night)
When he was exactly three years 4 months old, (coincidentally the exact age my brother died) he went to bed and slept the night through, from then on , he slept normally.
His hyperactivity didn't lessen much but he and we coped with it without any more drugs to subdue him.
As an afternote, I do believe a lot of parents believe their children are hyperactive when they are just normal boisterous lads.
-- Edited by Syl on Friday 5th of March 2021 01:07:10 PM
There seems to be a new 'syndrome' invented each week for kids who don't behave as well - 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder' for example.
It seems to me in the past most of them would just have been called what they are - trouble causing little shits!
Any excuse these days.
-- Edited by John Doe on Friday 5th of March 2021 04:11:27 PM
Maddog said
Mar 5 2:50 PM, 2021
Syl wrote:
frightening.
When my son was very young he was diagnosed as hyperactive. Most Dr's in the mid 1970's didn't even know what that was, one Dr diagnosed my son from reading some research from the US.
My son literally didn't seem to need to sleep, was often awake all night, even though I made sure he was active in the day.
More than one Dr (we saw several) prescribed phenegren in liquid form. The first night I gave it I watched over him all night because he went into a deep sleep, very rare for him....he was by then about 10 months old.
Soon after we went on holiday, the phenegren by now wasn't working , he had been on it a week or so, a very small amount, I took him to a local clinic whilst we were away because he was screaming a lot and the Dr there said to up the dose to relax him, she had given it to her own son, and she dished it out as and when.
I stopped immediately, it just didn't seem right to keep sedating a baby.
He had really bad problems with sleeping and eating till he was over 3, but we dealt with it by trying to limit sugar in his diet, keeping him very active, and taking him on long walks (sometimes I had blisters on my feet but son was still running around with boundless energy, and still not sleeping day or night)
When he was exactly three years 4 months old, (coincidentally the exact age my brother died) he went to bed and slept the night through, from then on , he slept normally.
His hyperactivity didn't lessen much but he and we coped with it without any more drugs to subdue him.
As an afternote, I do believe a lot of parents believe their children are hyperactive when they are just normal boisterous lads.
-- Edited by Syl on Friday 5th of March 2021 01:07:10 PM
Exercise doesn't cure everything, but wearing out the monsters with a lot of activity can't hurt.
I had all girls, but they played sports year round. Kept them fit and tired at night.
Digger said
Mar 5 4:59 PM, 2021
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
frightening.
When my son was very young he was diagnosed as hyperactive. Most Dr's in the mid 1970's didn't even know what that was, one Dr diagnosed my son from reading some research from the US.
My son literally didn't seem to need to sleep, was often awake all night, even though I made sure he was active in the day.
More than one Dr (we saw several) prescribed phenegren in liquid form. The first night I gave it I watched over him all night because he went into a deep sleep, very rare for him....he was by then about 10 months old.
Soon after we went on holiday, the phenegren by now wasn't working , he had been on it a week or so, a very small amount, I took him to a local clinic whilst we were away because he was screaming a lot and the Dr there said to up the dose to relax him, she had given it to her own son, and she dished it out as and when.
I stopped immediately, it just didn't seem right to keep sedating a baby.
He had really bad problems with sleeping and eating till he was over 3, but we dealt with it by trying to limit sugar in his diet, keeping him very active, and taking him on long walks (sometimes I had blisters on my feet but son was still running around with boundless energy, and still not sleeping day or night)
When he was exactly three years 4 months old, (coincidentally the exact age my brother died) he went to bed and slept the night through, from then on , he slept normally.
His hyperactivity didn't lessen much but he and we coped with it without any more drugs to subdue him.
As an afternote, I do believe a lot of parents believe their children are hyperactive when they are just normal boisterous lads.
-- Edited by Syl on Friday 5th of March 2021 01:07:10 PM
There seems to be a new 'syndrome' invented each week for kids who don't behave as well - 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder' for example.
It seems to me in the past most of them would just have been called what they are - trouble causing little shits!
Any excuse these days.
-- Edited by John Doe on Friday 5th of March 2021 04:11:27 PM
Back in the day you'd get a clip round the earhole for giving lip or get sent to bed early and wouldn't dare have any defiance. Children were seen and not heard. I think that's half the problem. It never did whole generations any harm at all.
John Doe said
Mar 5 6:47 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
John Doe wrote:
Syl wrote:
frightening.
When my son was very young he was diagnosed as hyperactive. Most Dr's in the mid 1970's didn't even know what that was, one Dr diagnosed my son from reading some research from the US.
My son literally didn't seem to need to sleep, was often awake all night, even though I made sure he was active in the day.
More than one Dr (we saw several) prescribed phenegren in liquid form. The first night I gave it I watched over him all night because he went into a deep sleep, very rare for him....he was by then about 10 months old.
Soon after we went on holiday, the phenegren by now wasn't working , he had been on it a week or so, a very small amount, I took him to a local clinic whilst we were away because he was screaming a lot and the Dr there said to up the dose to relax him, she had given it to her own son, and she dished it out as and when.
I stopped immediately, it just didn't seem right to keep sedating a baby.
He had really bad problems with sleeping and eating till he was over 3, but we dealt with it by trying to limit sugar in his diet, keeping him very active, and taking him on long walks (sometimes I had blisters on my feet but son was still running around with boundless energy, and still not sleeping day or night)
When he was exactly three years 4 months old, (coincidentally the exact age my brother died) he went to bed and slept the night through, from then on , he slept normally.
His hyperactivity didn't lessen much but he and we coped with it without any more drugs to subdue him.
As an afternote, I do believe a lot of parents believe their children are hyperactive when they are just normal boisterous lads.
-- Edited by Syl on Friday 5th of March 2021 01:07:10 PM
There seems to be a new 'syndrome' invented each week for kids who don't behave as well - 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder' for example.
It seems to me in the past most of them would just have been called what they are - trouble causing little shits!
Any excuse these days.
-- Edited by John Doe on Friday 5th of March 2021 04:11:27 PM
Back in the day you'd get a clip round the earhole for giving lip or get sent to bed early and wouldn't dare have any defiance. Children were seen and not heard. I think that's half the problem. It never did whole generations any harm at all.
Exactly - this ODD is a load of bollocks as far as I can tell - just an excuse for children to be the 'victims' whilst causing utter mayhem for other kids and adults alike.
Syl said
Mar 5 7:47 PM, 2021
One mother was talking today saying her 5 year old has developed something akin to agoraphobia since the lockdown started and kids have been off school and unable to mix for so many months.
She said he is now scared to go outside and cries if he has to go anywhere . As she was talking I did wonder whether he has been allowed to watch all the news telling the public to stay home stay safe etc.
The child psychologist she was discussing this with did come to the same conclusion.
Many problems kids have stem from the adults around them.
Digger said
Mar 5 10:05 PM, 2021
Syl wrote:
One mother was talking today saying her 5 year old has developed something akin to agoraphobia since the lockdown started and kids have been off school and unable to mix for so many months. She said he is now scared to go outside and cries if he has to go anywhere . As she was talking I did wonder whether he has been allowed to watch all the news telling the public to stay home stay safe etc. The child psychologist she was discussing this with did come to the same conclusion. Many problems kids have stem from the adults around them.
Yes. If you have agitated or stressed parents, the child picks up on that and if affects them. They mirror adults...it's how they learn to socialise. People are just idiots.
Maddog said
Mar 5 11:04 PM, 2021
Digger wrote:
Syl wrote:
One mother was talking today saying her 5 year old has developed something akin to agoraphobia since the lockdown started and kids have been off school and unable to mix for so many months. She said he is now scared to go outside and cries if he has to go anywhere . As she was talking I did wonder whether he has been allowed to watch all the news telling the public to stay home stay safe etc. The child psychologist she was discussing this with did come to the same conclusion. Many problems kids have stem from the adults around them.
Yes. If you have agitated or stressed parents, the child picks up on that and if affects them. They mirror adults...it's how they learn to socialise. People are just idiots.
I assumed my parents weren't afraid of anything, especially my dad. It was only later in life that I realized they were, but they felt they had a responsibility to not let us see that.
I did the same with my girls, and they don't have a phobia between the three of them. They have cousins that tremble in the closet when there is a tornado warning, or need a pill to get on a plane.
Syl said
Mar 6 12:01 AM, 2021
Well my mum used to pick spiders up and gently put them outside. I have a real terror of them, which started in childhood and seems to get worse every year.....some things are obviously in us in spite of how we are taught from childhood.
Maddog said
Mar 6 12:05 AM, 2021
Syl wrote:
Well my mum used to pick spiders up and gently put them outside. I have a real terror of them, which started in childhood and seems to get worse every year.....some things are obviously in us in spite of how we are taught from childhood.
Your mom should have thrown them at you.
That would have cured you.
Syl said
Mar 6 12:15 AM, 2021
Maddog wrote:
Syl wrote:
Well my mum used to pick spiders up and gently put them outside. I have a real terror of them, which started in childhood and seems to get worse every year.....some things are obviously in us in spite of how we are taught from childhood.
Your mom should have thrown them at you.
That would have cured you.
If anyone threw a spider at me I KNOW I would have a heart attack.
Thousands of antidepressants are being prescribed for children as young as five on the NHS with the number growing each year, official figures show.
The data for England, provided in a parliamentary written answer by health minister Lord Bethell, reveals an increase in drugs being issued to under-18s, from 329,954 in 2016 to 379,134 in 2019.
In the first 11 months of last year, 358,835 antidepressant items were dispensed in the community to youngsters, indicating a continued year-on-year upswing.
The true figure is likely to be higher as it does not include medication prescribed in secondary care by hospitals and specialist services.
The total bill for these prescription items dispensed over a five-year period to this group alone topped £9 million.
A breakdown of the data also shows an annual rise in the number of antidepressants issued to children aged five to 11, growing from 12,988 in 2016 to 14,529 in 2019.
In the period to November last year 14,187 prescription items were dispensed to patients in this age group, again signalling continued growth.
A separate parliamentary answer also revealed the overall number of antidepressants dispensed in the community has soared by more than 50% over the last decade at a total cost of £2.5 billion.
The figures were obtained in response to written questions submitted by independent crossbencher Lord Alton of Liverpool.
The peer and former MP said: 'This is the drugs problem we talk too little about.
'The vast numbers - now around 70 million prescriptions for antidepressants every year - and the escalating phenomenal cost to the NHS tell their own story.
'The UK is awash with antidepressant drugs costing a staggering £2.5 billion over the past 10 years - including thousands prescribed to children aged five to 11.
'With a further rise in the number of prescriptions the Government needs to say how many of these prescriptions are new and how many are repeat prescriptions, and it needs to give much greater thought as to why so many people have become dependent on antidepressants.
'If the overuse of antibiotics is creating cause for concern - and rightly so - should we not also be exercised by the overuse of antidepressants and our failure to address toxic loneliness, unhappiness, depression and isolation?
'Too often we put a poultice on a problem rather than attacking the root causes.'
This is appalling. Truly shocking. I'm aghast that any doctor would even consider giving a child drugs like this. I mean, we are all going to hell in a fucking handcart here. Truly.
I feel we humans are slowly but surely losing something vital with regards to what really matters in life.
It's been fairly common over here for years.
And it's appalling. Young people no longer know how to cope, and every minor adversity is tantamount to The Blitz now.
So between whining about everything, they get medicated.
Funny how we have increases in mass shootings and suicides too.
Children seem to be either over analyzed or just not talked to. Even something as simple as sitting round a table and sharing family meals seems to be a distant memory in many modern families.
Kids sit in their rooms playing internet games in isolation, it's not surprising they are unhappy.
Fucking hell.
I basically ruined my life until I was 30 because of true depression/anxiety/agoraphobia and hiding it and self medicating with booze.
I might be the black sheep of the family but at least I really tried and still am.
These people make me sick.
This is an old story. Shows how long the problem has been over here.
It really pisses me off. I can be a bit callous towards the suffering of adults, but I'm a huge advocate for protecting kids from this nonsense.
When my son was very young he was diagnosed as hyperactive. Most Dr's in the mid 1970's didn't even know what that was, one Dr diagnosed my son from reading some research from the US.
My son literally didn't seem to need to sleep, was often awake all night, even though I made sure he was active in the day.
More than one Dr (we saw several) prescribed phenegren in liquid form. The first night I gave it I watched over him all night because he went into a deep sleep, very rare for him....he was by then about 10 months old.
Soon after we went on holiday, the phenegren by now wasn't working , he had been on it a week or so, a very small amount, I took him to a local clinic whilst we were away because he was screaming a lot and the Dr there said to up the dose to relax him, she had given it to her own son, and she dished it out as and when.
I stopped immediately, it just didn't seem right to keep sedating a baby.
He had really bad problems with sleeping and eating till he was over 3, but we dealt with it by trying to limit sugar in his diet, keeping him very active, and taking him on long walks (sometimes I had blisters on my feet but son was still running around with boundless energy, and still not sleeping day or night)
When he was exactly three years 4 months old, (coincidentally the exact age my brother died) he went to bed and slept the night through, from then on , he slept normally.
His hyperactivity didn't lessen much but he and we coped with it without any more drugs to subdue him.
As an afternote, I do believe a lot of parents believe their children are hyperactive when they are just normal boisterous lads.
-- Edited by Syl on Friday 5th of March 2021 01:07:10 PM
There seems to be a new 'syndrome' invented each week for kids who don't behave as well - 'Oppositional Defiant Disorder' for example.
It seems to me in the past most of them would just have been called what they are - trouble causing little shits!
Any excuse these days.
-- Edited by John Doe on Friday 5th of March 2021 04:11:27 PM
Exercise doesn't cure everything, but wearing out the monsters with a lot of activity can't hurt.
I had all girls, but they played sports year round. Kept them fit and tired at night.
Back in the day you'd get a clip round the earhole for giving lip or get sent to bed early and wouldn't dare have any defiance. Children were seen and not heard. I think that's half the problem. It never did whole generations any harm at all.
Exactly - this ODD is a load of bollocks as far as I can tell - just an excuse for children to be the 'victims' whilst causing utter mayhem for other kids and adults alike.
One mother was talking today saying her 5 year old has developed something akin to agoraphobia since the lockdown started and kids have been off school and unable to mix for so many months.
She said he is now scared to go outside and cries if he has to go anywhere . As she was talking I did wonder whether he has been allowed to watch all the news telling the public to stay home stay safe etc.
The child psychologist she was discussing this with did come to the same conclusion.
Many problems kids have stem from the adults around them.
Yes. If you have agitated or stressed parents, the child picks up on that and if affects them. They mirror adults...it's how they learn to socialise. People are just idiots.
I assumed my parents weren't afraid of anything, especially my dad. It was only later in life that I realized they were, but they felt they had a responsibility to not let us see that.
I did the same with my girls, and they don't have a phobia between the three of them. They have cousins that tremble in the closet when there is a tornado warning, or need a pill to get on a plane.
Your mom should have thrown them at you.
That would have cured you.
If anyone threw a spider at me I KNOW I would have a heart attack.