England October to December 2023

Published 7 March 2024

Summary

Between October and December 2023:

There were 23 million antidepressant items prescribed to an estimated 6.8 million identified patients.

The cost of antidepressant items decreased by £1.5 million, from £56 million to £54 million.

1. Things you should know

Antidepressant drugs are effective for treating moderate to severe depression, but are not usually recommended for the routine treatment of mild depression. In those cases, psychological therapy should be considered initially. However, a trial of antidepressant therapy may be considered in cases resistant to psychological treatments or associated with other problems. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released updated guidance to recommend adult patients stopping antidepressants should have their dose reduced in stages across time.

Antidepressant drugs are described in the BNF 68 section 4.3:

  • BNF paragraph 4.3.1 - Tricyclic and related antidepressant drugs
  • BNF paragraph 4.3.2 - Monoamine-oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
  • BNF paragraph 4.3.3 - Selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
  • BNF paragraph 4.3.4 - Other antidepressant drugs

1.1. Antidepressant drugs

Antidepressant drugs are licensed to treat major depression. Health professionals use the words depression, depressive illness or clinical depression to refer to depression. It is a serious illness and very different from the common experience of feeling unhappy or fed up for a short period of time. Depressed people may have feelings of extreme sadness that can last for a long time. These feelings are severe enough to interfere with daily life, and can last for weeks, months or years, rather than days.

It should be noted that antidepressant drugs are used for indications other than depression, for example migraine, chronic pain, myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME), or a range of other conditions. Clinical indication isn’t captured by the NHSBSA. Therefore, the statistics on these drugs do not relate solely to prescribing for depression.

You can find more information about depression on the NHS website.

2. Results - Antidepressant drugs

Figure 1: Number of prescribed items and identified patients by financial quarter - BNF 4.3: Antidepressant drugs

23 million antidepressants items prescribed in Q3 2023/24.

6.8 million identified patients received an antidepressant in Q3 2023/24.

Antidepressant items and identified patients both continue to trend upwards.

Figure 2: Cost of prescribing by financial quarter - BNF 4.3: Antidepressant drugs

In Q3 2023/24, the cost of antidepressant items was £54 million.

Antidepressant costs have continued to decrease, despite increases in items and identified patients.

Figure 3: Number of prescribed items and identified patients by month - BNF 4.3: Antidepressant drugs

An average of 4.7 million patients per month received prescribing for antidepressants over the 12 months to December.

Antidepressant items increased by 3.6% in the 12 months to December, compared to the previous 12 month period.

3. Sections in this release