Sex divide: The largest group of people taking antidepressants are women aged 18-45. Posed by model Just a few years ago, Yasmin Miller would have been horrified by the suggestion she might take antidepressants for the rest of her life. But today, the 37-year-old can barely imagine a future without this daily chemical boost.
Yasmin's 'perfect' life as a corporate tax adviser was shattered when, in 2003, she developed severe depression. Although incapacitated by the illness, she needed convincing that a pill could make a difference.
'I was gobsmacked when my GP suggested antidepressants, because I thought they were addictive,' she recalls. 'But now I've changed my mind: depression is just like epilepsy or diabetes or any other illness where you need to take a daily pill for life in order to stay healthy.'
Just 20 years after the launch of the 'sunshine drug' Prozac, Yasmin is one of hundreds of thousands of young women who can't imagine life without antidepressants.
But some experts are warning of disturbing parallels with the 'mother's little helper' scandal of the Seventies and Eighties, when thousands of women became addicted to widely prescribed tranquillisers, including Valium.
Antidepressants are meant to be taken for nine months for a first episode and for a maximum of two years for those experiencing further depression, under guidelines set out by the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE).
However, new research from the University of Southampton has found that at least 15 per cent of women under 45 - around one million women - are prescribed antidepressants every year, and a substantial number continue to take them far beyond this recommended time limit.
'We estimate more than two million people are taking antidepressants for more than five years and the largest group are women aged 18 to 45,' says lead researcher Tony Kendrick, professor of general practice at Southampton University.
'Many young women today are picking up repeat prescriptions for months and years apparently without any checks - in many cases these are women who want to stop but can't.
Even those who make a deliberate choice to stay on the medication long-term may not be aware of the dangers, not least the risk of missing out on the normal ups and downs of ordinary life.'
Doctors still routinely reassure patients that the side-effects of antidepressants are largely mild and short term - these include drowsiness, dizziness and weight gain that become obvious in the first few weeks and can normally be reversed by trying another type of pill.
source: dailymail