GPs are prescribing up to 20% more anxiety medications and antidepressants than at the same time last year, new figures suggest.

There have been long-running concerns COVID-19 would lead to a mental health crisis, with psychiatrists predicting a worst-case scenario of 1,500 extra suicides per year.

Now, data drawn from 1000 GP practices in NSW and Victoria has provided further insight into how the crisis could be evolving.

The figures show there has been a sharp increase in the overall number of new diagnoses for anxiety.