Question reference: S5W-05883
- Asked by: Alexander Burnett, MSP for Aberdeenshire West, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 22 December 2016
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Current status: Answered by Maureen Watt on 12 January 2017
Question
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to minimise reliance on prescription anti-depressant drugs.
Answer
The Scottish Government funds the NHS in Scotland to make available both antidepressants and psychological therapies to people who are depressed, in keeping with contemporary treatment of depression.
Prescribing of anti-depressants is a clinical decision for a patient’s doctor and there is evidence that GPs in Scotland assess and treat depression appropriately in line with good clinical and prescribing practice (http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2014/07/5712).
Clinicians are encouraged to review a patient’s medications regularly to ensure their continued clinical appropriateness, and to achieve the best possible health benefit from the prescribed medicines, thus minimising unnecessary reliance.
Psychological therapies should not be seen simply as an ‘alternative’ to antidepressant medication. There is a great deal of evidence to support the use of different forms of psychological therapies for the treatment of depression – both alone and in combination with medication. A useful evidence source is the Matrix of Psychological Therapies produced by NHS Education Scotland (http://www.nes.scot.nhs.uk/media/20137/Psychology%20Matrix%202013.pdf).