RTÉ Investigates has found that the rate of antidepressant prescribing among people on the public drug schemes increased by 28% from 2012 to 2017. rteinvestigates
RTÉ Investigates has found that the rate of antidepressant prescribing among people on the public drug schemes increased by 28% from 2012 to 2017.
The data relates to the three main public drug schemes – the General Medical Services, the Drugs Payment Scheme, and the Long-Term Illness Scheme. Combined, those schemes covered close to 70% of the population from 2012-17. We also calculated the number of patients being prescribed antidepressants in each LHO, also expressed per 1,000 people on the combined drug schemes, per year.
Some of those areas have been economically depressed, which may, in part, explain the trends there. According to the 2016 Pobal HP deprivation index – a metric used to calculate social disadvantage by geographic area - Wexford was third most deprived LHO in the country, while South Tipperary was fourth,
Patient numbers Nationally, in 2012 there were 187 people on the public drug schemes who were prescribed antidepressants, which increased by 18% to 221 patients in 2017.The LHO with the highest number of patients was Dublin South City, on 267 patients, followed by Longford-Westmeath , and Dublin North Central . South Tipperary , Waterford and Carlow-Kilkenny were also among the highest in the country, according to this metric.
Separately, a Eurostat study carried out in 2014 found that Ireland had the highest share of its population who reported having chronic depression, at 12%. The EU average was 7%, while the rate in the UK was 9%."The incidence of depression in general over the last 20 to 30 to 40 years is probably pretty consistent, if we're talking about true genuine clinical depression where the person is really in trouble and in distress," he said.
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