New figures released in July by the Department of Health in response toa parliamentary question by David Laws, the Liberal Democrat shadowchildren's secretary, show a massive rise in the number of prescriptionswritten by GPs to treat conditions such as depression, behaviouralproblems and psychoses in under-16s. Prescriptions of behaviour-alteringdrugs for conditions such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorderhave increased from 48,264 in 1996/1997 to 454,797 in 2006/2007.Prescriptions for antidepressants rose from 78,353 to 109,535 over thesame period.
A Department of Health spokesperson said, 'There have been significantimprovements in recognising mental health conditions, which have led toan increase in the number of children referred to specialist servicesfor treatment.'
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