You may read this title and wonder who said it? If you have come across my blog before it would be reasonable to consider that it was said by me!
It was actually a headline of the 7th October 1960 and featured in many of the British newspapers of the day. The headline is based on the concerns of Dr William Sargant (1907-1988). In my previous post I shared the understanding of many that Dr Sargant has been recorded by history “for the evangelical zeal with which he promoted physical methods of treatments in psychiatry.”
It is interesting that nearly 60 years ago that Dr Sargant was concerned about “excessive claims” made by the pharmaceutical industry.
Seven years after this 1960 headline, the following article appeared in a number of British newspapers:
I was born in 1967, a month after the above newspaper report. I find myself wondering what the percentage increase in antidepressant prescribing has been over my lifetime?
If there is anybody out there who is good with figures might you add a comment with the approximate rate (in percent) of the rise of prescriptions from November 1967 to today. It really would be interesting to see this. It is possible that such a figure might bring Dr Sargant back from his grave.