1 in 8 Australians on antidepressants
What's going on?
- by
Tara Ali
Pexels
New data from the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme shows three million Australians – that’s one in every eight people, including 100,000 children, are now reliant on anti-depressants.
The data shows people aged 38-57 were most likely to be using anti-depressants and has prompted concerns Australia is over-diagnosing and over-treating depression.
A new watchdog on mental health, Psychwatch Australia is asking the question: ‘Why is the Lucky Country so miserable?’ when we are consistently ranked near the top of the World happiness ratings and it points to 4 reasons why so many of us are taking antidepressant medication:
- We have a flawed model for diagnosing depression and other psychiatric disorders.
- Most anti-depressants prescribing is done by time-poor GPs with limited mental health training and few other options.
- Increasing demands for government to provide or subsidise mental health interventions. Plus for cash-strapped governments, the appeal of quick, cheap mental health treatments is irresistible.
- Problems with estimating how prevalent depression is within Australia.
For more information on this, check out the blog post:
Tara Ali
Tara Ali is a writer who loves vegetarian food and Stevie Wonder. She has recently returned to exercise after two babies in two years. Turns out YouTube workouts combined with peeling children off your back is a pretty decent calorie burn.
