Do GPs and psychiatrists recommend alternatives when prescribing anti-depressants?
This study explores whether a partial explanation for high antidepressant prescription rates is the failure of prescribers to recommend alternatives. 1829 New Zealand adults were asked which of six non-pharmacological treatment approaches were recommended when prescribed anti-depressants. The majority (82%) received at least one recommendation and 32% received three or more, most commonly 'Counsellor/Psychologist/Psychotherapist' (74%) and Exercise Schedule (43%). It cannot, therefore, be concluded that failing to consider non-pharmacological treatments is a major cause of high prescribing rates. Being younger and more severely depressed were both positively related to number of recommendations. Psychiatrists made significantly more recommendations than GPs.
School of Psychology, University of East London, UK. Electronic address: john@uel.ac.uk.
John
J
Read
School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Kerry
K
Gibson
School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand.
Claire
C
Cartwright
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000928:Antidepressive Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D011307:Drug Prescriptions / Q000592:standards; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000639:trends*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000523:psychology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009520:New Zealand / Q000453:epidemiology; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000379:methods / Q000639:trends*; D055815:Young Adult
D000928:Antidepressive Agents
Antidepressants; Depression; Psychotherapy