ULTRASIS - ONWARDS AND UPWARDS

Evening all
More good news for ULT
Have a good read and note what Charlie is my darling has to say!!!!!!!!!!

Saturday, 17 December 2005 10:32
BNN: British Nursing News Online · www.bnn-online.co.uk
ANTI-DEPRESSANT PRESCRIPTIONS RISE BY TWO MILLION IN SCOTLAND
Figures revealed yesterday show that the number of anti-depressant drugs prescribed in Scotland has tripled over the past 12 years.
The NHS statistics also showed an increase in the number of drugs prescribed for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and for elderly people with dementia.

The figures show that more than three million prescriptions for anti-depressants, including Prozac, were issued last year, compared with just over a million in 1993, the NHS figures showed. The gross cost was £58.7 million, up £500,000 on the previous year.

The figures also showed a 11.7 per cent increase in the number of ADHD-related prescriptions, including the controversial drug Ritalin, in the last year. Use of the so-called "chemical cosh" has risen more than ten-fold since 1993, from 3,887 prescriptions to 42,832.

Mental health campaigners and politicians expressed concern over the "phenomenal increase" and called for more alternative therapies to be made available.

Charlie McMillan, the director of policy at the Scottish Association for Mental Health, deplored the "phenomenal" increase in anti-depressants and called for more alternative therapies, such as counselling and cognitive behavioural therapy.

"Anti-depressants may well be the right thing for some people, but we have real questions as to why we are prescribing on such a scale in Scotland," he said.

"Anyone prescribing anti-depressants should be absolutely clear this is the right treatment for that person, explain fully about the medication they are giving and look at alternative therapies".