‘The easiest solution’: Young patients increasingly prescribed antidepressants for years
Young people may gravitate towards pharmaceuticals, enabled by the growth of telehealth corporates, says GP Dr Cathy Andronis.
Long-term antidepressant treatment for patients aged 10-24 has more than doubled in 10 years, a study of PBS data suggests.
By 2023, more than 3% of people aged 10-24 were on long-term PBS-funded antidepressants, defined as continuous use for a year or more, University of SA researchers have found.
Average treatment length for those patients also rose from 1.4 to 2.2 years over the study period, based on a 10% sample of PBS claims spanning 2014 to 2023.
In comparison, 12% of patients aged 55-74 were taking antidepressants long term, with an average treatment length of 6.5 years in 2023.
