Rethink urged on overuse of pills

A Christchurch health specialist is warning against the rising use of antidepressants.

Professor Roger Mulder, of the Otago University Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, is calling for a rethink of the way people are treated for mild depression.

At a public lecture last week, he said there were other methods of treatment, such as exercise, talking to family, and receiving practical support, which could be just as effective for people with mild depression.

Depression is becoming more common among New Zealanders, with 770,000 prescriptions written for anti-depressants last year, compared with 350,000 in 1993.

Evidence suggested this correlated with an increase in mild to moderate cases of depression, with no indication of a rise in serious psychotic cases, Professor Mulder said.

He questioned whether that increase had anything to do with a rise in mental illness.

Instead, he believed the "normalisation" of depression could be prompting people to seek unnecessary medical treatment.

"I don't want to challenge depression as an illness, what I want to challenge is the boundaries of depression.

"There seems to be those severe cases, but there also seems to be the relatively common symptoms of the blues, which we all feel sometimes.

"Distress is a normal part of living, we're all going to feel distressed at some stage.

"The question is, when is it an advantage to have some sort of medical response?"

Professor Mulder said he believed non-medical remedies, such as exercise, herbal medicine, or counselling could prove more successful for treating mild cases of depression.

He questioned whether prescribing antidepressants in mild cases had any real benefits for the patient.

"Is it because you're talking to someone, they're caring about you and they're giving you something to help that actually makes you get better?

"If you have a mild disorder, you may need to exercise, you may need to stop drinking, you may need to get your life in some sort of order, and that will be a better response."

- NZPA