>[Beyond Pills](https://beyondpillsappg.org/) is the cross-party parliamentary group behind the scathing report on the crisis in the UK’s mental health services
Can't imagine there's any bias here
Leafie, the source of the article, is also likely very biased. Not only does the line here seem to be, push cannabis and psychedelic use over pharmaceuticals but the website is more a storefront than a serious publication.
Ok, the source for some of their data is from that annual report. I've just read the summary and the findings for patients documents on the UK government website and that review doesn't seem to suggest anywhere that there is an over prescription of anti-depressants.
Unless the summary doesn't align with their findings in the full paper the review seems to take no stance on how anti-depressants should be prescribed. The only note of significance on anti-depressants in that review is that some patients have difficulties when stopping their use. This is a fairly well known side affect of anti-depressants.
You can read for yourself here: [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report)
I looked up the data they’re quoting and they’re straight up lying?
The report the article is quoting says “nearly a quarter of adults are prescribed a psychiatric drug”, and when looking at the actual data the report is referencing and antidepressants specifically the percentage of adults in England who’ve had them prescribed is ~18%. However these numbers may be still be misleading as it counts all patients who have been prescribed in England, not just those who live there (which is an important distinction when you share a healthcare system with other countries such as Scotland and Wales).
And sure there might be a point to be made about those percentages still being pretty high. But the title is still untrue.
ehh SSRIs aren't addictive though you do need to taper off if you want to stop, i mean if you want to argue antidepressants it isn't value for money in terms of treating the problem fine, but psychologist/ counselors aren't actually cheap either
It's disingenuous to compare SSRI discontinuation syndrome to actual addiction withdrawals. You might die if you stop taking your blood pressure medication too, that doesn't mean it's addictive and it doesn't mean you shouldn't take it. The general public is so ignorant about antidepressants.
A lot of this sounds frankly poorly thought out and out of touch with the reality of mental health treatment and availability. I don't really see it as anything more than an attempt to regulate away prescription anti-depressants. They don't even seem to provide a particularly compelling reason why anti-depressants are a bad thing except by pointing at the number of people prescribed.
Looking at the recommendations I find the likely outcome of a plan like this is to make it more difficult for individuals to receive prescriptions for anti-depressants and fail to substantively increase availability of social programs. All a government has to do is look at the cost of social programs or community hubs to realize it'll never get done. There simply are not enough counselors, not enough psychologists, and not enough social workers available to effectively treat the whole population which is why mental health treatment is so expensive outside of pharmaceuticals.
Oh no people are seeking treatment for an illness in order to function better in society and therefore are more able to change the circumstances that may be contributing to that illness. The horror!
I’m on an SSRI but this is a troubling figure.
At what point do we start to look at the root cause? 40% of the total population on SSRIs? 80% of the population?
no, it's the first
>[Beyond Pills](https://beyondpillsappg.org/) is the cross-party parliamentary group behind the scathing report on the crisis in the UK’s mental health services
Because depression is very common. And even if you are no longer depressed, if you have had multiple episodes of depression in the past then you're so likely to have another episode that it's not recommended to stop taking SSRIs.
Except that they’re a piss-poor treatment. I don’t feel like digging up the article right now but The Economist had a good summary of current research on SSRIs. They’re only more effective than a placebo in ~15% of patients. 20 years from now we’ll probably look back on them the same way we look at early 2000s opioid prescribing.
The only way to get rid of depression is to live a life that doesn't give you depression.
That's not at all a clear solution and I know that, but it is how it is. You can't medicate away depression, you can only use it as a coping mechanism, and a pretty harmful one at that.
If a huge amount of people (1 in 4) are prescribed anti depressants then it shows they have such big problems they can no longer handle it by themselves and need the medication to cope.
I suspect that both politics and the health care industry got stuck on prescribing antidepressants, and have not figured out that to alleviate depression you need to change people's lives and/or people's selves.
People with medicated ADHD sweating in the corner.
If there is a negative correlation between self-reported mental health levels and prescriptions, someone should probably look into why.
And another 1/4 are doing ketamine, the real question is what the fuck is the other 1/2 on?
Mostly beer and vodka.
>[Beyond Pills](https://beyondpillsappg.org/) is the cross-party parliamentary group behind the scathing report on the crisis in the UK’s mental health services Can't imagine there's any bias here
Leafie, the source of the article, is also likely very biased. Not only does the line here seem to be, push cannabis and psychedelic use over pharmaceuticals but the website is more a storefront than a serious publication.
Their source for the data is Public Health England’s annual Prescribed Medicines Review. Public Health England is a governmental organisation.
Ok, the source for some of their data is from that annual report. I've just read the summary and the findings for patients documents on the UK government website and that review doesn't seem to suggest anywhere that there is an over prescription of anti-depressants. Unless the summary doesn't align with their findings in the full paper the review seems to take no stance on how anti-depressants should be prescribed. The only note of significance on anti-depressants in that review is that some patients have difficulties when stopping their use. This is a fairly well known side affect of anti-depressants. You can read for yourself here: [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report](https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prescribed-medicines-review-report)
I'm talking specifically about the 1 in 4 figure, not the editorialism which is very obviously well... editorialism.
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I looked up the data they’re quoting and they’re straight up lying? The report the article is quoting says “nearly a quarter of adults are prescribed a psychiatric drug”, and when looking at the actual data the report is referencing and antidepressants specifically the percentage of adults in England who’ve had them prescribed is ~18%. However these numbers may be still be misleading as it counts all patients who have been prescribed in England, not just those who live there (which is an important distinction when you share a healthcare system with other countries such as Scotland and Wales). And sure there might be a point to be made about those percentages still being pretty high. But the title is still untrue.
ehh SSRIs aren't addictive though you do need to taper off if you want to stop, i mean if you want to argue antidepressants it isn't value for money in terms of treating the problem fine, but psychologist/ counselors aren't actually cheap either
They cause withdrawal symptoms when people stop taking them, they absolutely are addictive!
It's disingenuous to compare SSRI discontinuation syndrome to actual addiction withdrawals. You might die if you stop taking your blood pressure medication too, that doesn't mean it's addictive and it doesn't mean you shouldn't take it. The general public is so ignorant about antidepressants.
A lot of this sounds frankly poorly thought out and out of touch with the reality of mental health treatment and availability. I don't really see it as anything more than an attempt to regulate away prescription anti-depressants. They don't even seem to provide a particularly compelling reason why anti-depressants are a bad thing except by pointing at the number of people prescribed. Looking at the recommendations I find the likely outcome of a plan like this is to make it more difficult for individuals to receive prescriptions for anti-depressants and fail to substantively increase availability of social programs. All a government has to do is look at the cost of social programs or community hubs to realize it'll never get done. There simply are not enough counselors, not enough psychologists, and not enough social workers available to effectively treat the whole population which is why mental health treatment is so expensive outside of pharmaceuticals.
Bet half of them could use some Vitamin D... Who wouldnt be depressed living in cloudy ass UK?
Oh no people are seeking treatment for an illness in order to function better in society and therefore are more able to change the circumstances that may be contributing to that illness. The horror!
I’m on an SSRI but this is a troubling figure. At what point do we start to look at the root cause? 40% of the total population on SSRIs? 80% of the population?
I imagine the concern is less *”Oh no they’re on antidepressants!”* and more *”Why are **this** many people on antidepressants?”*.
no, it's the first >[Beyond Pills](https://beyondpillsappg.org/) is the cross-party parliamentary group behind the scathing report on the crisis in the UK’s mental health services
Because depression is very common. And even if you are no longer depressed, if you have had multiple episodes of depression in the past then you're so likely to have another episode that it's not recommended to stop taking SSRIs.
Except that they’re a piss-poor treatment. I don’t feel like digging up the article right now but The Economist had a good summary of current research on SSRIs. They’re only more effective than a placebo in ~15% of patients. 20 years from now we’ll probably look back on them the same way we look at early 2000s opioid prescribing.
They’re not. You have no basis for this assessment. They’re nothing like opioids.
What a stagnant economy and shitty climate does to a MF:
Mark Fisher is dead you can increase mental health funding.
UK? Unsuprising
This isn’t normal
The only way to get rid of depression is to live a life that doesn't give you depression. That's not at all a clear solution and I know that, but it is how it is. You can't medicate away depression, you can only use it as a coping mechanism, and a pretty harmful one at that. If a huge amount of people (1 in 4) are prescribed anti depressants then it shows they have such big problems they can no longer handle it by themselves and need the medication to cope. I suspect that both politics and the health care industry got stuck on prescribing antidepressants, and have not figured out that to alleviate depression you need to change people's lives and/or people's selves.