Alex Trelinski
THE use of anti-depressants has leapt up in the last three years among teenage girls and young women in Spain according to the Ministry of Health.
Experts conclude the gender gap is down to bias within the health system as doctors medicate females twice as much as men if they have mental health issues.
They also believe there’s a link to increased pill-popping due to general discrimination and violence suffered by young women.
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Twice as many females aged 15 to 19 years use anti-depressants compared to males, as revealed by Ministry of Health figures.
The gender gap widens further among young women aged between 20 to 24 years.
Sociology professor from the University of the Basque Country, Amaia Bagacilupe, said that taking anti-depressants is being ‘normalised’.
She believes that young women are being over-medicated, who follow what they learn from their mothers and take advantage of a greater ease in getting medicines from pharmacies.
“Treatments that were previously managed through non-medical means such as community networks, family support and dialogue, now pass through the health system and with people wanting quick results, more and more pills are being prescribed.”
Amaia Bagacilupe also feels that dealing with the whole issue of mental health is being trivialised.
“Nowadays it is common to hear young people talk about different types of disorders which in some way trivialises this aspect of mental health in a way that makes it feel routine to take anti-depressives,· she added.
