Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Call for special anti-depressant helpline rejected by minister

Maureen Watt MSP
Maureen Watt MSP

Calls for a specialist helpline for people struggling to come off prescribed drugs such as anti-depressants have been rejected by Scotland’s mental health minister.

Maureen Watt told Holyrood’s petitions committee that the recommendation made by the British Medical Association (BMA) had been considered but other services were best placed to help those in need.

The remarks emerged just weeks after the Press and Journal reported that children as young as 11 were being prescribed such medication in the Highlands.

There were 331 under-18s prescribed the drugs in the region in 2016-17, including six 12-year–olds, and across Scotland four times as many children under-13 were being prescribed antidepressants last year compared to seven years ago.

The minister was giving evidence to MSPs considering a petition calling for better support services for patients struggling with dependence or withdrawal from prescribed medicines such as benzodiazepines and anti-depressants.

The petition has been lodged by campaigner Marion Brown on behalf of the Recovery and Renewal patient group, and has been accompanied by numerous submissions from those who have experienced such difficulties.

Ms Watt said: “We’re aware of the BMA’s call for a helpline but I think in discussing this petition we would like to strongly indicate that the best person to help with the withdrawal from anti-depressants is the person who has prescribed them in the first place.

“They know the clinical history of the person who has been on the drugs, but that said if people want to seek other advice NHS 24 and NHS Inform operate within Scotland, and community pharmacies are also in a position to give advice.”