Shocking 450k anti-depressant prescriptions dished out to under-18s amid fears of mental health crisis

NEARLY 450,000 anti-depressant prescriptions were issued to kids last year — amid concern of a mental health crisis.

GPs doled out pills despite guidelines that they should only be used in severe cases.

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And almost 4,000 prescriptions were given to children under ten.

The figures have sparked fears youngsters are being offered the drugs because waiting lists to see psychotherapists are too long.

Prescriptions for under-18s in England leapt from 312,000 in 2015-2016 to 448,515 in 2022-2023.

This was despite National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guidelines that under-18s should not receive antidepressants for “mild” depression.

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NICE also advises that youngsters with “moderate to severe” depression should only get pills alongside psychological therapy.

The figures were presented to Parliament last week.

Marjorie Wallace, chief exec of charity Sane, said: “We’ve created a generation of lost, lonely and disconnected young people.

“We should not be handing them antidepressants just because there’s nothing else to offer.”

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It comes as separate statistics unearthed by The Sun show that soaring numbers of youngsters have been treated for drug and alcohol problems.

Data reveals 12,418 under-18s sought help for substance misuse in the year ending April 2023 — up 13 per cent in just two years.

The most commonly abused drugs were cannabis, followed by alcohol and cocaine.

And there was a staggering 83 per cent rise in children getting help for ketamine abuse from 96 in 2011 to 176 last year.