Child use of antidepressants up four-fold

The use of antidepressants and other mind-altering drugs among schoolchildren has more than quadrupled in the last decade, it is revealed today.

New figures show that GPs are prescribing pills in record numbers to combat stress, violent behaviour and even tiredness.

Under-16s were given drugs for mental health problems more than 631,000 times last year, compared to just 146,000 in the mid-Nineties.

The huge increase has been blamed on a rise in childhood mental illness sparked by family breakdown and high-stakes school exams.

But there are fears that family doctors are coming under pressure to prescribe drugs such as Prozac as a "quick fix" solution, when counselling would be better.

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