Use of antidepressants by young people up by 60 per cent in 10 years
The proportion of young people taking antidepressants in Belgium has risen by 60 per cent in 10 years, a survey by the country's independent health insurers showed on Monday. The increase is almost exclusively among girls.
The insurers surveyed all their members between the ages of 12 and 18 about their medication use. The results show that more and more young people are taking antidepressants. The 60 per cent increase was almost entirely due to a doubling of use among girls, while use among boys remained stable.
"More than half of the increase occurred during the Covid-19 pandemic"
"More than half of the increase occurred between 2020 and 2021, during the Covid-19 pandemic," said Evelyn Macken, medicines expert at the insurers' umbrella organisation.
Macken stressed that the total number of young people taking antidepressants remains low at 1.6 per cent. The proportion of adults taking antidepressants is still much higher, at 9.4 per cent, but has remained stable over a decade.
Social isolation
"The gender difference does not surprise me," said Marina Danckaerts, professor of child and adolescent psychiatry at the University Psychiatric Centre of KU Leuven. "It's a cliché, but it's true: when girls feel bad, they focus more inwardly and develop mood or anxiety problems more quickly than boys
"Girls start to look for the cause within themselves and wonder what they are doing wrong. When boys feel bad about themselves, they are more likely to be defiant and sometimes develop behavioural problems."
"Social interaction is very important for girls' self-image"
Danckaerts largely attributes the increase to social isolation during the Covid-19 period. "And again, we see that this affects girls more because social interaction is very important for their self-image," said Danckaerts. "We also know that the negative effects of social media are therefore more pronounced among girls."
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