News | Mental health

Peaks in number of young people prescribed antidepressants coincide with lockdowns

Exclusive: The increase in antidepressant prescribing in England accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic, with peaks occurring during lockdowns.…

Psilocybin therapy appears as effective as escitalopram, small study finds

Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine highlights the potential of psilocybin for treating depression.…

Government promises £14m in 2021/2022 for frontline services to tackle high drug death rate

In a debate with Scottish ministers, drugs policy minister Angela Constance reiterated the importance of getting people immediate treatment and support that will prevent fatal overdose.…

Cost of sertraline has increased by more than 500% since 2019, figures show

Despite the number of items of sertraline dispensed increasing by 12% in 2020/2021, the cost increased by £142m, NHS data show.…

NHS spending on antidepressants rose by £139m during pandemic, study finds

Using prescribing data from 2019 and 2020, researchers found that the cost of antidepressants surged to £35m in April 2020 — more than double than the same month in 2019.…

Pharmacy teams ‘pivotal’ in improving outcomes in patients with depression or pain, study concludes

A systematic review of 13 studies across different countries found that community pharmacy-based interventions improved medication adherence, self-efficacy and general management of disease.…

I became a trauma risk manager during the pandemic, and other pharmacists should too

My trauma risk management course armed me with evidence-based steps to support my colleagues after work-related trauma.…

Area with one of highest antidepressant prescribing rates in England to publish guidelines on deprescribing

Exclusive: Sunderland Clinical Commissioning Group is publishing guidelines that aim to help overcome barriers that prevent healthcare professionals deprescribing antidepressants.…

‘Urgent’ need to address community pharmacists’ mental health, says NHS Practitioner Health director

Exclusive: Dame Clare Gerada has said community pharmacists are “at risk of being missed out” by the mental health support on offer for healthcare professionals.…

Cochrane review finds ‘urgent shortage’ of evidence around safe withdrawal from antidepressants

Researchers said that, owing to a lack of studies on discontinuing long-term antidepressants, they could not make firm conclusions about the effects and safety of the approaches studied to date.…