Medicines Used in Mental Health -
Prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic

England - October to December 2024

Published 6 March 2025

Summary

Antidepressant items and hypnotics and anxiolytics items followed the expected trend during Q3 2024/25.

In Q3 2024/25, CNS stimulants and drugs for ADHD items continued to increase beyond the range of expected values.

In Q3 2024/25, antipsychotics were below the range of expected items based on pre-pandemic prescribing trends.

1. Things you should know

1.1. Scope

This publication provides information exploring how the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the use of medicines used to treat mental health in England. It covers medicines prescribed in England that are then dispensed in the community in England, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man of the Channel Islands. The publication does not include data on medicines used in hospitals, prisons or prescribed by private doctors.

Further information on the drug groups covered here can be found in the overview and relevant summaries also included in this release.

1.2. Prescribing during the COVID-19 pandemic

We have created a model to help users interpret the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on prescribing trends.

The number of expected prescription items for each BNF section during this period has been calculated by extrapolating figures for March 2020 to December 2024 according to:

• the trend in prescription items for each section between April 2015 and February 2020
• the number of dispensing days that occur in each month
• the typical differences between each month of the year observed between April 2015 and February 2020
• the typical differences between each combination of 20 year age band group and gender

A linear regression model has been used to estimate the number of items prescribed, to stay relatively simple and consistent with the model used in previous releases. The model estimates the expected number of items prescribed based on pre-pandemic trends, for each combination of age band and gender. These estimates have then been added together to get an estimate of the total items expected per month, with a 99% prediction interval (PI) calculated.

Prediction interval (PI)

A range calculated based on the uncertainty around the fit of the model. A 99% PI means the new observation is likely to fall within the interval of predicted values 99% of the time.

The data used in this model has been split into groups by patients’ 20 year age band and gender. As age band and gender were included in the model, the model was only fitted to data where age band and gender were both known. This means the charts of predictions made using the model are not based on the same full data used in the rest of this publication. These charts cannot be directly compared to each other or to the quarterly and monthly charts of items prescribed. More information on the methodology behind the model can be found in the background and methodology document

2.1. Antidepressant prescribing

Expected and actual prescribing activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic - BNF 4.3: Antidepressant drugs

Chart

Figure 1 : Antidepressant prescribing

Table

Table 1: Antidepressant prescribing

Year Month	Antidepressant prescribed items	Antidepressant expected items	99% Prediction interval (Lower)	99% Prediction interval (Upper)
202003	6,718,560	6,477,894	6,094,799	6,860,989
202004	6,405,864	6,181,599	5,799,221	6,563,977
202005	6,175,149	6,341,606	5,959,228	6,723,984
202006	6,396,945	6,442,261	6,062,868	6,821,655
202007	6,704,094	6,537,886	6,156,431	6,919,340
202008	6,081,023	6,334,113	5,946,744	6,721,483
202009	6,579,330	6,469,424	6,089,295	6,849,553
202010	6,733,119	6,679,565	6,299,436	7,059,694
202011	6,516,456	6,473,464	6,088,875	6,858,052
202012	6,995,987	6,737,400	6,358,006	7,116,793
202101	6,645,749	6,597,139	6,212,550	6,981,727
202102	6,273,846	6,260,439	5,880,736	6,640,142
202103	7,053,642	6,940,263	6,543,286	7,337,241
202104	6,823,978	6,505,369	6,113,973	6,896,765
202105	6,528,433	6,665,377	6,273,980	7,056,773
202106	6,945,674	6,766,031	6,377,753	7,154,310
202107	6,943,314	6,861,656	6,471,464	7,251,848
202108	6,645,036	6,657,884	6,261,511	7,054,256
202109	6,970,810	6,793,194	6,404,247	7,182,141
202110	6,688,073	6,864,736	6,473,340	7,256,132
202111	6,966,620	6,935,833	6,547,554	7,324,112
202112	7,285,849	7,061,170	6,672,891	7,449,449
202201	6,931,715	6,920,909	6,527,303	7,314,515
202202	6,496,606	6,584,209	6,195,527	6,972,892
202203	7,356,342	7,264,034	6,857,542	7,670,526
202204	6,870,109	6,829,140	6,426,487	7,231,792
202205	7,171,086	7,127,746	6,727,719	7,527,774
202206	6,986,992	6,812,603	6,388,888	7,236,318
202207	6,943,528	7,046,827	6,645,821	7,447,833
202208	7,154,663	7,120,253	6,720,864	7,519,643
202209	7,124,423	6,978,365	6,575,713	7,381,017
202210	7,056,951	7,188,506	6,785,854	7,591,158
202211	7,240,139	7,259,604	6,860,177	7,659,030
202212	7,221,891	7,384,940	6,985,513	7,784,367
202301	7,274,065	7,244,679	6,839,830	7,649,528
202302	6,703,568	6,907,979	6,508,062	7,307,896
202303	7,669,569	7,587,804	7,169,665	8,005,943
202304	6,869,288	7,014,310	6,582,337	7,446,284
202305	7,337,332	7,312,917	6,896,952	7,728,882
202306	7,452,945	7,413,572	7,000,918	7,826,226
202307	7,271,542	7,370,597	6,956,273	7,784,922
202308	7,437,860	7,444,024	7,031,358	7,856,689
202309	7,288,908	7,440,735	7,027,547	7,853,922
202310	7,420,822	7,512,276	7,096,311	7,928,242
202311	7,500,033	7,583,374	7,170,720	7,996,027
202312	7,430,662	7,570,111	7,151,972	7,988,250
202401	7,709,757	7,707,049	7,294,395	8,119,703
202402	7,238,570	7,370,349	6,954,466	7,786,232
202403	7,366,715	7,634,375	7,199,688	8,069,063
202404	7,604,857	7,615,280	7,187,043	8,043,516
202405	7,796,405	7,775,287	7,347,051	8,203,523
202406	7,257,853	7,598,743	7,165,456	8,032,030
202407	7,908,925	7,832,967	7,403,736	8,262,197
202408	7,601,639	7,767,794	7,339,970	8,195,618
202409	7,468,429	7,625,906	7,194,761	8,057,050
202410	7,943,616	7,974,646	7,546,410	8,402,882
202411	7,602,637	7,907,144	7,479,377	8,334,911
202412	7,797,716	7,893,881	7,460,594	8,327,168

Between March 2020 and December 2024, there were 411 million antidepressants prescribed to identified patients with a known age and gender. This was 622,000 items less than expected based on historical trends. Antidepressant items stayed within the expected range of values over this period.

2.2. Hypnotics and anxiolytics prescribing

Expected and actual prescribing activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic - BNF 4.1: Hypnotics and anxiolytics

Chart

Figure 2 : Hypnotics and anxiolytics prescribing

Table

Table 1: Hypnotics and anxiolytics prescribing

Year Month	Hypnotics and anxiolytics prescribed items	Hypnotics and anxiolytics expected items	99% Prediction interval (Lower)	99% Prediction interval (Upper)
202003	1,186,543	1,192,641	1,138,854.0	1,246,428
202004	1,172,975	1,108,030	1,054,343.3	1,161,716
202005	1,109,937	1,132,236	1,078,549.3	1,185,922
202006	1,151,653	1,151,225	1,097,958.3	1,204,493
202007	1,195,095	1,166,139	1,112,582.0	1,219,695
202008	1,076,463	1,121,838	1,067,451.1	1,176,225
202009	1,156,591	1,152,889	1,099,518.7	1,206,259
202010	1,179,806	1,186,949	1,133,578.7	1,240,319
202011	1,135,231	1,124,332	1,070,335.3	1,178,328
202012	1,222,616	1,183,058	1,129,790.7	1,236,325
202101	1,153,245	1,148,876	1,094,879.5	1,202,873
202102	1,089,377	1,069,576	1,016,264.9	1,122,886
202103	1,208,596	1,209,596	1,153,860.1	1,265,332
202104	1,142,947	1,091,712	1,036,759.3	1,146,664
202105	1,082,352	1,115,918	1,060,965.3	1,170,870
202106	1,148,170	1,134,908	1,080,392.9	1,189,422
202107	1,152,069	1,149,821	1,095,037.3	1,204,604
202108	1,102,233	1,105,520	1,049,869.1	1,161,171
202109	1,154,988	1,136,571	1,081,962.7	1,191,180
202110	1,104,771	1,137,358	1,082,405.7	1,192,310
202111	1,142,343	1,141,287	1,086,772.5	1,195,802
202112	1,190,042	1,166,740	1,112,225.3	1,221,255
202201	1,130,457	1,132,558	1,077,295.6	1,187,821
202202	1,061,373	1,053,258	998,686.4	1,107,829
202203	1,188,181	1,193,278	1,136,206.5	1,250,350
202204	1,099,384	1,075,394	1,018,861.0	1,131,927
202205	1,136,975	1,132,873	1,076,708.8	1,189,037
202206	1,104,970	1,052,043	992,553.4	1,111,533
202207	1,084,337	1,100,230	1,043,928.0	1,156,531
202208	1,126,230	1,122,475	1,066,400.8	1,178,550
202209	1,124,236	1,086,980	1,030,447.4	1,143,513
202210	1,102,781	1,121,040	1,064,507.4	1,177,573
202211	1,120,619	1,124,969	1,068,889.5	1,181,049
202212	1,109,020	1,150,422	1,094,342.3	1,206,502
202301	1,126,047	1,116,240	1,059,399.2	1,173,082
202302	1,032,918	1,036,940	980,791.1	1,093,089
202303	1,175,188	1,176,960	1,118,253.4	1,235,667
202304	1,037,992	1,025,803	965,153.4	1,086,452
202305	1,101,674	1,083,282	1,024,880.0	1,141,684
202306	1,112,282	1,102,272	1,044,334.9	1,160,209
202307	1,083,953	1,083,912	1,025,740.2	1,142,083
202308	1,115,336	1,106,158	1,048,219.0	1,164,096
202309	1,086,454	1,103,935	1,045,923.6	1,161,947
202310	1,101,343	1,104,722	1,046,320.4	1,163,124
202311	1,103,260	1,108,651	1,050,714.5	1,166,588
202312	1,091,383	1,100,831	1,042,124.0	1,159,538
202401	1,136,326	1,133,196	1,075,258.7	1,191,133
202402	1,061,565	1,053,895	995,504.9	1,112,285
202403	1,068,607	1,094,096	1,033,065.8	1,155,127
202404	1,092,498	1,076,031	1,015,906.5	1,136,156
202405	1,114,411	1,100,237	1,040,112.5	1,160,362
202406	1,032,646	1,052,681	991,847.0	1,113,515
202407	1,120,081	1,100,867	1,040,602.7	1,161,131
202408	1,079,193	1,089,840	1,029,772.9	1,149,907
202409	1,063,141	1,054,344	993,811.4	1,114,877
202410	1,130,053	1,121,678	1,061,552.9	1,181,802
202411	1,073,084	1,092,334	1,032,274.8	1,152,392
202412	1,104,001	1,084,513	1,023,679.4	1,145,347

There were 64.9 million hypnotics and anxiolytics items prescribed to identified patients with a known age and gender between March 2020 and December 2024. This was 214,000 more than the 64.7 million items expected based on historical trends. Hypnotics and anxiolytics items stayed within the expected range of values for this period.

2.3. Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders prescribing

Expected and actual prescribing activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic - BNF 4.2: Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders

Chart

Figure 3 : Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders prescribing

Table

Table 3: Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders prescribing

Year Month	Antipsychotics prescribed items	Antipsychotics expected items	99% Prediction interval (Lower)	99% Prediction interval (Upper)
202003	1,037,004	1,046,822.1	996,039.2	1,097,605
202004	1,079,326	996,030.7	945,342.9	1,046,719
202005	1,013,544	1,021,456.7	970,768.9	1,072,145
202006	1,038,615	1,040,843.1	990,550.9	1,091,135
202007	1,079,533	1,059,269.1	1,008,703.6	1,109,834
202008	983,129	1,025,646.4	974,296.9	1,076,996
202009	1,045,045	1,041,834.9	991,445.2	1,092,225
202010	1,072,644	1,076,133.3	1,025,743.6	1,126,523
202011	1,031,086	1,037,375.4	986,394.4	1,088,356
202012	1,108,317	1,085,491.1	1,035,198.9	1,135,783
202101	1,045,969	1,054,631.2	1,003,650.2	1,105,612
202102	988,354	998,861.5	948,528.2	1,049,195
202103	1,099,620	1,108,877.7	1,056,254.5	1,161,501
202104	1,066,125	1,034,622.4	982,739.1	1,086,506
202105	1,016,016	1,060,048.4	1,008,165.1	1,111,932
202106	1,079,773	1,079,434.7	1,027,964.7	1,130,905
202107	1,085,613	1,097,860.7	1,046,137.0	1,149,584
202108	1,038,795	1,064,238.0	1,011,695.0	1,116,781
202109	1,076,491	1,080,426.5	1,028,867.9	1,131,985
202110	1,037,080	1,091,261.0	1,039,377.7	1,143,144
202111	1,072,400	1,099,430.9	1,047,960.9	1,150,901
202112	1,121,015	1,124,082.7	1,072,612.7	1,175,553
202201	1,067,730	1,093,222.8	1,041,046.6	1,145,399
202202	996,203	1,037,453.2	985,929.6	1,088,977
202203	1,117,137	1,147,469.3	1,093,584.9	1,201,354
202204	1,053,596	1,073,214.0	1,019,838.6	1,126,589
202205	1,089,857	1,122,104.0	1,069,076.5	1,175,131
202206	1,064,933	1,071,098.5	1,014,931.0	1,127,266
202207	1,057,092	1,112,988.4	1,059,831.2	1,166,146
202208	1,087,238	1,126,293.6	1,073,350.6	1,179,237
202209	1,078,044	1,095,554.2	1,042,178.8	1,148,930
202210	1,077,974	1,129,852.6	1,076,477.2	1,183,228
202211	1,097,721	1,138,022.6	1,085,074.7	1,190,970
202212	1,097,422	1,162,674.4	1,109,726.5	1,215,622
202301	1,099,336	1,131,814.4	1,078,147.8	1,185,481
202302	1,007,740	1,076,044.8	1,023,032.0	1,129,058
202303	1,144,038	1,186,060.9	1,130,632.6	1,241,489
202304	1,027,482	1,088,341.7	1,031,079.6	1,145,604
202305	1,096,218	1,137,231.7	1,082,091.5	1,192,372
202306	1,113,930	1,156,618.0	1,101,916.8	1,211,319
202307	1,083,934	1,151,580.0	1,096,657.4	1,206,503
202308	1,114,224	1,164,885.2	1,110,182.5	1,219,588
202309	1,084,078	1,157,609.8	1,102,837.8	1,212,382
202310	1,103,528	1,168,444.3	1,113,304.1	1,223,584
202311	1,114,280	1,176,614.2	1,121,913.0	1,231,315
202312	1,101,093	1,177,802.1	1,122,373.7	1,233,230
202401	1,138,918	1,193,870.0	1,139,168.8	1,248,571
202402	1,070,845	1,138,100.4	1,082,971.1	1,193,230
202403	1,083,329	1,177,724.7	1,120,102.8	1,235,347
202404	1,115,002	1,173,861.2	1,117,094.4	1,230,628
202405	1,137,177	1,199,287.2	1,142,520.4	1,256,054
202406	1,070,569	1,171,745.7	1,114,309.4	1,229,182
202407	1,174,897	1,213,635.6	1,156,737.0	1,270,534
202408	1,124,009	1,203,476.9	1,146,764.7	1,260,189
202409	1,096,429	1,172,737.5	1,115,585.2	1,229,890
202410	1,161,511	1,230,499.8	1,173,733.0	1,287,267
202411	1,108,746	1,215,205.8	1,158,501.3	1,271,910
202412	1,141,207	1,216,393.7	1,158,957.4	1,273,830

From March 2020 to December 2024 there were 62.6 million antipsychotics items prescribed to identified patients with known age and gender. This was 3.2% fewer items than the 64.7 million that were expected to be prescribed. Antipsychotics items previously stayed mostly within the range of expected values, but are now often lower than this range. Antipsychotics items were below the range of expected values for all 3 months in Q3 2024/25.

2.4. CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD prescribing

Expected and actual prescribing activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic - BNF 4.4: CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD

Chart

Figure 4 : CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD prescribing

Table

Table 4: CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD prescribing

Year Month	CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD prescribed items	CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD expected items	99% Prediction interval (Lower)	99% Prediction interval (Upper)
202003	144,880	129,845.1	113,340.7	146,349.4
202004	129,912	123,587.5	107,114.1	140,060.9
202005	123,324	129,138.3	112,664.9	145,611.7
202006	128,450	131,666.5	115,321.7	148,011.4
202007	133,354	131,035.8	114,602.2	147,469.5
202008	120,224	121,018.8	104,330.3	137,707.2
202009	138,360	131,206.9	114,830.4	147,583.4
202010	141,947	133,492.7	117,116.2	149,869.2
202011	139,246	131,586.7	115,018.1	148,155.4
202012	145,073	135,919.3	119,574.5	152,264.2
202101	138,709	134,339.3	117,770.7	150,908.0
202102	130,056	127,769.2	111,411.0	144,127.4
202103	150,785	141,402.6	124,300.2	158,505.0
202104	147,312	132,786.2	115,924.3	149,648.1
202105	144,904	138,337.0	121,475.1	155,198.9
202106	153,613	140,865.2	124,137.6	157,592.9
202107	152,068	140,234.6	123,424.5	157,044.6
202108	139,820	130,217.5	113,141.2	147,293.8
202109	156,006	140,405.6	123,649.2	157,162.0
202110	151,859	140,332.6	123,470.7	157,194.5
202111	160,137	143,144.2	126,416.6	159,871.9
202112	165,763	145,118.0	128,390.4	161,845.7
202201	164,713	143,538.0	126,580.9	160,495.2
202202	152,555	136,967.9	120,222.9	153,712.9
202203	178,617	150,601.3	133,089.0	168,113.6
202204	167,152	141,984.9	124,638.0	159,331.8
202205	179,133	149,894.5	132,660.7	167,128.3
202206	180,818	145,346.3	127,092.1	163,600.6
202207	176,602	147,074.5	129,798.5	164,350.4
202208	169,464	141,775.0	124,568.7	158,981.3
202209	186,425	147,245.5	129,898.6	164,592.4
202210	184,637	149,531.3	132,184.4	166,878.2
202211	193,054	152,343.0	135,135.1	169,550.9
202212	188,075	154,316.8	137,108.9	171,524.7
202301	193,380	152,736.8	135,295.2	170,178.3
202302	187,960	146,166.6	128,937.6	163,395.7
202303	219,056	159,800.0	141,786.0	177,814.1
202304	193,534	148,824.8	130,214.8	167,434.9
202305	214,272	156,734.4	138,814.0	174,654.8
202306	218,401	159,262.7	141,485.0	177,040.4
202307	214,091	156,273.2	138,423.5	174,122.9
202308	207,921	150,973.7	133,195.5	168,752.0
202309	214,583	158,803.0	141,002.3	176,603.8
202310	215,159	158,730.0	140,809.6	176,650.4
202311	218,482	161,541.7	143,764.0	179,319.4
202312	212,022	161,156.7	143,142.6	179,170.7
202401	231,286	164,294.3	146,516.6	182,072.0
202402	215,041	157,724.2	139,807.3	175,641.0
202403	231,044	164,281.1	145,554.2	183,008.1
202404	234,992	162,741.2	144,292.1	181,190.2
202405	244,492	168,292.0	149,842.9	186,741.0
202406	231,410	166,102.6	147,435.9	184,769.2
202407	243,850	167,830.7	149,338.8	186,322.6
202408	229,053	160,172.4	141,741.1	178,603.7
202409	243,733	165,643.0	147,068.6	184,217.3
202410	257,961	170,287.6	151,838.5	188,736.6
202411	253,844	170,740.4	152,311.6	189,169.2
202412	261,535	170,355.4	151,688.7	189,022.0

Between March 2020 to December 2024, there were 10.6 million CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD items prescribed to identified patients with known age and gender. This was 24% more than the 8.57 million items expected based on historical trends, and the actual number of items has consistently remained above the range of expected values since March 2022. The difference in the trend for actual items compared to the expected trend in the model continues to increase over time.

The model is based on data containing identified patients with known age and gender only. CNS stimulants and drugs used for ADHD have a relatively low patient identification rate compared to the other BNF sections included in this publication. For example, patient identification for this BNF section was 79.3% in Q1 2015/16, rising to 89.1% in Q3 of 2024/25. As a lower proportion of prescribing is included in the model data, this may have an impact on how well the model can extrapolate expected values from the data. Section 1.4 of the summary report has more information on patient identification rates and a table of rates by BNF section.

2.5. Drugs for dementia prescribing

Expected and actual prescribing activity during the COVID-19 Pandemic - BNF 4.11: Drugs for dementia

Chart

Figure 5 : Drugs for dementia prescribing

Table

Table 5: Drugs for dementia prescribing

Year Month	Drugs for dementia prescribed items	Drugs for dementia used for ADHD expected items	99% Prediction interval (Lower)	99% Prediction interval (Upper)
202003	338,988	351,917.6	310,014.9	393,820.3
202004	353,430	337,036.8	295,212.5	378,861.1
202005	323,304	346,431.0	304,606.7	388,255.3
202006	329,367	353,032.5	311,534.7	394,530.4
202007	338,205	359,663.0	317,939.8	401,386.3
202008	311,307	351,885.9	309,515.7	394,256.1
202009	325,076	356,458.8	314,880.5	398,037.1
202010	333,214	369,405.6	327,827.3	410,983.9
202011	319,487	358,179.9	316,113.8	400,246.0
202012	339,596	371,861.1	330,363.3	413,359.0
202101	319,711	361,116.9	319,050.8	403,183.0
202102	297,532	342,463.8	300,932.1	383,995.6
202103	331,689	378,799.6	335,378.4	422,220.8
202104	321,999	356,369.6	313,558.9	399,180.3
202105	311,439	365,763.8	322,953.1	408,574.5
202106	328,909	372,365.4	329,895.7	414,835.1
202107	332,820	378,995.9	336,316.8	421,674.9
202108	322,306	371,218.7	327,863.7	414,573.7
202109	332,910	375,791.6	333,248.8	418,334.4
202110	319,517	381,189.2	338,378.5	423,999.9
202111	331,901	385,062.0	342,592.3	427,531.7
202112	345,876	391,194.0	348,724.3	433,663.7
202201	328,777	380,449.8	337,397.4	423,502.1
202202	308,560	361,796.7	319,282.8	404,310.5
202203	343,563	398,132.5	353,670.6	442,594.3
202204	328,092	375,702.4	331,660.5	419,744.3
202205	341,386	392,645.8	348,891.1	436,400.6
202206	332,361	376,599.8	330,254.0	422,945.5
202207	333,007	390,779.5	346,917.7	434,641.3
202208	346,781	398,100.8	354,415.7	441,785.8
202209	339,899	387,575.2	343,533.3	431,617.1
202210	342,250	400,522.0	356,480.1	444,563.9
202211	350,046	404,394.8	360,705.7	448,083.9
202212	347,462	410,526.8	366,837.7	454,215.9
202301	348,718	399,782.6	355,500.4	444,064.7
202302	320,431	381,129.5	337,386.8	424,872.2
202303	364,158	417,465.3	371,729.5	463,201.1
202304	329,562	387,486.0	340,237.1	434,735.0
202305	354,929	404,429.5	358,931.4	449,927.5
202306	361,149	411,031.0	365,895.2	456,166.8
202307	354,254	410,112.3	364,793.7	455,430.9
202308	365,527	417,433.6	372,296.5	462,570.7
202309	359,131	414,457.3	369,263.1	459,651.5
202310	367,558	419,854.9	374,356.8	465,352.9
202311	375,351	423,727.6	378,591.8	468,863.4
202312	370,053	422,310.4	376,574.6	468,046.2
202401	382,365	426,664.6	381,528.8	471,800.4
202402	359,877	408,011.6	362,522.5	453,500.6
202403	363,218	421,699.7	374,153.9	469,245.5
202404	378,757	421,917.3	375,077.1	468,757.5
202405	386,852	431,311.5	384,471.3	478,151.7
202406	366,415	422,814.6	375,422.0	470,207.3
202407	403,503	436,994.3	390,045.4	483,943.3
202408	385,941	436,766.4	389,971.3	483,561.6
202409	380,741	426,240.9	379,082.6	473,399.2
202410	403,596	446,736.9	399,896.7	493,577.1
202411	389,213	443,060.5	396,271.6	489,849.3
202412	402,472	441,643.2	394,250.6	489,035.9

There were 20.1 million drugs for dementia items prescribed between March 2020 and December 2024 to identified patients with known age and gender. This was 11.6% fewer items than the 22.8 million expected to be prescribed during this time period. Previously, the actual number of items has generally remained below the range of items expected based on historical trends. However in Q3 2024/25, the number of items was within the prediction interval for both October and December.

---

3. Sections in this release

• Medicines used in Mental Health summary
• BNF Section 4.3 - Antidepressant drugs
• BNF Section 4.1 - Hypnotics and anxiolytics
• BNF Section 4.2 - Drugs used in psychoses and related disorders
• BNF Section 4.4 - Central nervous system (CNS) stimulants and drugs used for ADHD
• BNF Section 4.11 - Drugs for dementia
• Medicines used in Mental Health background