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Britons are increasingly relying on antidepressants – with the number of prescriptions soaring by a quarter in just three years.
NHS figures reveal that 53million were issued last year – a record high – compared with just 42.8million in 2010, and 20.1million in 1999.
Some psychiatrists say that people suffering what used to be a bout of the everyday blues are now being diagnosed with a medical condition and prescribed treatment.
Soaring: NHS figures reveal a sharp increase in the number of antidepressants, such as Prozac, being handed out in Britain
There is also concern that GPs are handing out pills such as Prozac and Seroxat too freely when they should be referring patients for counselling or other therapies.
Doctors say they have no choice but to prescribe medication because the waiting times for talking therapies are so long and patients are reluctant to leave without treatment.
But some experts say there is little evidence that the pills even work and they can cause debilitating side effects such as agitation, tiredness and suicidal thoughts.
Dr Joanna Moncrieff, an author on mental health drugs and consultant psychiatrist at North East London NHS Foundation Trust, said: ‘Being depressed from time to time is a universal human experience.
‘Diagnosing people with a medical disorder and prescribing a pill may appear to offer an easy answer, but it stores up more problems than it solves.
As a society, our dependence on antidepressants makes us less resilient and less resourceful in the face of the everyday challenges of modern living.
In my clinical experience, many people just carry on taking their antidepressant because they are too fearful to stop, and research in general practice confirms that people are taking these drugs for longer and longer periods.’
Dangers: experts have spoken out about how people using the pills can become too afraid to stop, even when they do not need them any more
Labour MP Jim Dobbin, chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on involuntary tranquilliser addiction, said there were ‘serious problems’ with addiction to antidepressants.
‘We need closer regulation of this,’ he said. ‘The pharmaceutical industry is very powerful and puts too much pressure on the medical profession to prescribe them.’
A report by the Health and Social Care Information Centre last year showed that in some parts of the UK as many as one in six adults is on antidepressants.
One such area is the South Wales borough of Blaenau Gwent, where the NHS issues almost 10,000 prescriptions for different types of ‘happy pills’ each month.
It is one of the most economically depressed areas of the UK and local GP Greg Graham has spoken of the problems that lead to the heavy use of medication.
‘There remains a lot of low morale, issues of poor health and lack of opportunities,’ he said.
A charity has set up a drop-in centre in one of the towns, Brynmawr, for people on antidepressants to receive counselling or just have a cup of tea. It is said to be used by a ‘significant number’ of people in their early 20s.
Separate data from the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development shows that the UK has the seventh highest prescribing rate for antidepressants in the Western world.
There are 71 daily doses for every 1,000 people, compared with 38 daily doses per 1,000 people a decade ago.
In France and Germany the figure is 50 doses a day, while in Italy it is 42 doses a day.
Sophie Corlett, from the mental health charity Mind, said: ‘The number of prescriptions for antidepressants issued in the UK has been rising for many years. These new figures show no sign of this trend slowing and we need to know why we are seeing persistent increases.
‘We know that people are more aware of other treatment options and many do not want to be treated with drugs but cannot, and should not have to, wait months for therapy.’
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