Antidepressant use rose following Brexit referendum, figures show

Uncertainty over Brexit caused a rise in the use of antidepressants, researchers have found.

A study by King’s College London reveals that, relative to wider prescribing, there was a 13.4 per cent increase in antidepressant prescription in the month following the June 2016 referendum, compared to the previous year.

National events, such as elections and financial crises, can affect mental health, researchers said.

With this in mind, they set out to examine whether there was a rise in antidepressant prescriptions in England after the Brexit referendum.

Relative to other drug classes included in the study, there was a significant rise during July 2016.

Writing in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, the authors suggested the finding may be attributed to "increased uncertainty for some parts of the population", arguing that more should be done to promote mental wellbeing during times of "economic uncertainty or political upheaval".

Using GP practice prescribing data, the authors from King's College London and Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health in the US compiled the number of defined daily doses per capita every month in each of the 326 voting areas in England between 2011-2016.

They compared antidepressant prescriptions to prescriptions for iron and anti-gout drugs - chosen because they were "unlikely to be associated with uncertainty and depression".