According to the BBC, the rates of antidepressant prescriptions for children under the age of 16 has quadrupled over the past 10 years. The article also notes that this has not corresponded with an increase in psychological problems for people in that age group. Some politicians are not seeing this as a positive thing.

The drug figures were obtained by David Laws, the Liberal Democrat shadow children’s secretary.

He said: “I think it is a major concern that drugs seem to be prescribed so easily these days to children of school age.

“In the past, not only were there not as many of these types of drugs on the market, there was an assumption, I think, that people would try to get to the source of the problem, rather than simply prescribing drugs.”

I really think that he highlights one of the central questions and philosophical differences in how psychological problems are viewed that will continue to be debated and discussed long after the current era is past.

Comments

This post currently has 5 comments. You can read the comments or leave your own thoughts on our new comments page.

Trackbacks

No trackbacks yet to this post.

    Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 29 Jul 2007
    Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved.