The number of antidepressant drugs prescribed in England is on the increase according to data from the NHS Business Services Authority.

More than 21 million drugs were prescribed between October and December 2021, a rise of 3.48 per cent on the 20.5 million items prescribed during the same quarter in 2020. It was also an increase of 1.88 per cent on the 20.8 million drugs prescribed between July and September last year.

Drugs used to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder increased from 509,000 items during the third quarter of 2021 to 548,000 items between October and December. That compared with 487,000 items during the same quarter in 2020.

The NHSBSA said 1.71 million more antidepressant prescription items were prescribed “than expected based on historical trends” between March 2020 and December 2021. There were 753,000 fewer prescriptions for dementia drugs than expected during that period.