Youth antidepressant prescriptions have skyrocketed and it's revealing some important issues about the mental-health-care system in Ontario.

Max's family has questions about the risks of these antidepressants for young people. Max was 19 years old when he first received a prescription for his mental health. A month later, Max ended his life. Now, his family wants to know more about the threshold to be prescribed an antidepressant.   

In Ontario's mental-health crisis, the number of young people prescribed antidepressants jumped by 224 per cent between 2009 and 2019. Host Tiffany Lam digs into the use of prescription medication in mental-health care for youth struggling with anxiety, depression, and other mental-health issues, and where the trend is now.

What should families look out for if a loved one starts this kind of treatment? What do latest trends signal more broadly? What happens when we rely too much on medications to treat youth-mental-health problems? What are the side effects? How will pharmaceutical solutions to mental-health challenges change in the future?

This episode of In Our Heads explores studies of psychiatric medications, how the brain reacts to them and the future of pharmaceutical mental-health treatment.

Read the transcript: https://www.tvo.org/article/how-and-when-should-teens-be-prescribed-antidepressants

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If you, or someone you know, is struggling with mental health, visit any of the following resources for support:

Wellness Together Canada

https://www.wellnesstogether.ca/en-CA

To connect with a mental health professional one-on-one:

• call 1-888-668-6810 or text WELLNESS to 686868 for youth
• call 1-866-585-0445 or text WELLNESS to 741741 for adults

Kids Help Phone

Call 1-800-668-6868 (toll-free) or text CONNECT to 686868.

The Government of Ontario’s Mental Health Support Resources

https://www.ontario.ca/page/find-mental-health-support

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