Use of anti-depressants by children and young people doubles in five years
At least half of sufferers still without treatment
|
|
|
The use of drugs in the treatment of depression among patients under the age of 20 has doubled in the past five years in Finland.
Growth in the use of anti-depressants has grown especially in the 15 - 19 age group. Last year the number of young women with prescriptions for anti-depressants eligible for sickness insurance compensation was 2.7 times higher than in 1998. With young men the use of the drugs had increased 2.5-fold.
Depression requiring medication is very rare among preschool-age children and those in the lower grades, but becomes more common after the age of 10. A few percent of those aged 15 to 19 require medication in addition to their main treatment - psychotherapy.
The sharp increase in consumption of medication is seen as an indicator of more efficient treatment of depression than as an increase in the prevalence of the condition itself. Nevertheless, experts say that the problem of depression among children and young people is still underdiagnosed.
"At least half of all children and young people with depression are outside of treatment", says Dr. Mauri Marttunen, head physician of the National Public Health Institute, and Professor at the University of Oulu. Mild cases of depression are more likely to be left untreated than serious ones.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRI drugs, revolutionised depression treatment in the last decade, leading to a sixfold increase in the consumption of anti-depressants.
Nevertheless, it is estimated that half of all cases of adult depression remain hidden. There has been considerable progress since the mid-1990s, when only one in five adults suffering from depression were believed to be getting the treatment they need.
Depression requiring drug treatment is rare among children under the age of ten. Ages 15 to 18 are critical for the outbreak of depression; in addition to the psychological upheavals of puberty, biological changes also increase susceptibility to depression.
"Adults suffer depression more than young people, but half of the bouts of depression suffered by adults are recurrences of previous conditions", Marttunen says.
Anti-depressant drugs are always a secondary means of treating depression in children and young people.
"The main rule is that treatment of depression starts with psycho-social means. If they alone do not work, medication is added", Marttunen says.
Finland has taken a more restrictive line on medication for depression than Britain or the United States, and there has been some criticism within the psychiatric profession that the criteria for prescribing drugs may be too tough.
Helsingin Sanomat
|
| 5.5.2004 - TODAY |
 Use of anti-depressants by children and young people doubles in five years |
|
