Table 8.
Factors contributing to prescription rates of antidepressants increasing annually for the past 20 years.
| n = 63 | Strongly agree (1) |
Agree (2) |
Neither agree nor disagree (3) | Disagree (4) |
Strongly disagree (5) |
Mean |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cuts to social services, benefits etc. | 51% | 32% | 16% | 0% | 2% | 1.70 |
| People are less embarrassed about saying they are depressed | 38% | 49% | 5% | 5% | 3% | 1.86 |
| More people just want to feel better without making changes in their lives | 36% | 38% | 17% | 8% | 0% | 1.97 |
| GPs have less time to talk with patients | 43% | 33% | 6% | 9% | 8% | 2.06 |
| People are no more depressed than they used to be, but more are treated | 29% | 48% | 11% | 11% | 2% | 2.10 |
| Social media | 29% | 40% | 27% | 3% | 2% | 2.10 |
| Other types of treatment are not funded or are too expensive | 36% | 40% | 6% | 9% | 8% | 2.13 |
| Drug companies have successfully promoted an illness model of depression | 32% | 35% | 16% | 16% | 2% | 2.21 |
| People are finding it difficult to come off their antidepressants | 21% | 36% | 29% | 14% | 0% | 2.37 |
| Many people don’t want talking therapies | 16% | 41% | 22% | 14% | 6% | 2.54 |
| More people are depressed these days | 13% | 32% | 30% | 14% | 11% | 2.79 |
| Brexit | 6% | 27% | 30% | 19% | 17% | 3.14 |
| antidepressants are the best treatment | 0% | 8% | 35% | 36% | 21% | 3.70 |
| Far too high | Slightly too high | About right | Slightly too low | Far too low | ||
| What is your opinion about the current rate of antidepressant prescribing (one in six adults in England) (n = 66) | 43% | 40% | 16% | 2% | 0% |