State ‘wastes €34m a year on unneeded anti-depressants’

The State is paying out €34m a year to fund anti-depressants prescribed to people who do not need them, according to a leading psychologist who instead called for greater access to counselling.

Speaking at the Irish Association of Suicidology annual conference, Declan Aherne, a clinical psychologist and head of counselling at the University of Limerick (UL), called for an end to this “wasteful” practice and said the money would be more effective if it was instead used to implement counselling services in communities across the country.

“People are crying out for more talk therapy and the evidence is that it works,” said Dr Aherne.