Medication rise sign more getting support
A rise in the use of anti-depressants over the past decade is a positive sign that more people are getting support, Ministry of Health officials say.
Provisional data released by the ministry shows a year-on-year increase in the number of anti-depressants and antipsychotic medication dispensed between
2010 and 2020.
The number of anti-psychotic units (measured in tablets, capsules or millilitres of oral liquid) dispensed jumped by 47 per cent, from 44.3 million to 65.3m. Taking New Zealand’s population increase into account, that still represents a 26 per cent rise.
The number of anti-depressant units dispensed rose 40 per cent, from 139.5m to
195.7m, representing a 20 per cent rise when accounting for population growth.
Anxiolytics, used to treat and prevent anxiety, increased by 18 per cent, from
21.7m to 25.7m. This ended up as a 1 per cent increase when taking population growth into account.
The figures excluded drugs provided in hospitals and unfunded medications.
Ministry of Health chief clinical adviser Dr Arran Culver said ‘‘more people than ever’’ were accessing mental health and addiction support, which was ‘‘positive’’. Health authorities were aware there had been a ‘‘gradual increase’’ in the use of anti-depressant and anti-psychotic medication.
A ministry spokesperson noted antidepressants and anti-psychotics were used to treat a range of non-mental health symptoms too, including pain, sleep problems, and agitation in people with dementia.
Culver said more than 11,000 people were getting mental health support from a new service provided at GP clinics.
Under the new model, GPs could refer patients to see a health improvement practitioner, health coach, and/or support worker for a 30-minute appointment the same day.
Demand for specialist mental health services had also increased, with about
15,700 more people accessing them in
2019-20 than in 2015-16.
The increased demand was ‘‘good news’’, as it showed more people were seeking help when they needed it, Culver said.
Royal New Zealand College of General Practitioners medical director Bryan Betty said GPs spent about 30 per cent of their time with patients who had mental health concerns. They could not always provide treatment they believed was best – a combination of medication and psychological therapy. ‘‘Often you’re caught between a rock and a hard place because . . . talking therapy or psychological therapy or access to a psychologist is just not possible.’’
Many GPs provided brief intervention counselling, but medication was ‘‘very definitely’’ used to treat patients, he said.
About 50 per cent of GPs who responded to a recent survey by the college said they had very little access to advice from psychiatrists and psychological or psychiatric services for patients with moderate to severe mental health distress.
‘‘There seems to be a substantive gap in the middle, between very severe and mild [symptoms], that no-one is really talking about.’’
New Zealand College of Clinical Psychologists spokesman Paul Skirrow said there was less stigma around mental health issues, which had increased demand for psychological services. ‘‘At the minute there isn’t a lot of access to psychological therapies so perhaps, I suspect people are having to get medications because they are having to wait for a psychologist.’’