Antidepressant scripts account for largest annual rise in items dispensed in the England

According to a new report issues this week by the UK’s Health and Social Care Information Centre (HSCIC), just under 46.7 million prescriptions for antidepressants were dispensed in England in 2011; a 3.9 million item (9.1%) increase on 2010.

This is the largest rise in items of any of the 200 sections listed within the British National Formulary, which categorizes all prescribed drugs in England by chapter and section, based on therapeutic action.

The Central Nervous System chapter, which includes antidepressants and other sections relating to mental health and neurological conditions, also saw the biggest increase in items of any of the 15 chapters over the same period – with 172.4 million items dispensed; an 8.9 million item (5.4 per cent) rise on the previous year.