New research from database company Exasol shows a massive disparity across the country as antidepressant prescribing surges to over 64 million prescriptions annually – up 600% in the last 25 years.
There is a large regional variation across the country with a clear link to deprivation in the North and East of England where GP’s are found to be prescribing twice as many antidepressants as those in the South East and London.
The prescribing rate for Swindon is 1.24 prescriptions per head, which is higher than the England average of 1.16, but is slightly lower than the average prescribing rate for the South West, which is 1.25.
The company found that antidepressant use in Britain has been increasing for years with just nine million prescriptions made in 1991.
Sean Jackson, chief marketing officer (CMO), EXASOL says: “When analysing the data, we can see that the prescribing of anti-depressants has increased by a large amount in recent years. However, this is only one part of the story: when we delve deeper, we find that the data can uncover further information such as geographic differences across the country.
“With the right data and the right technology, you can turn any problem into a data problem. People suffering from mental health problems need support and respect, these insights can direct help to the right places and it highlights where more resources are necessary.
“By uncovering insights using big data, it shows the factual reality of the problem. However, to be able to analyse such enormous data-sets requires the right tool for the job. We hope the findings will help to raise awareness of this important issue.”
The highest prescribing district in the country is Blackpool, the only district in England where more than two prescriptions per person per year were given out by GPs.
