Quarter of people in Derry and Strabane prescribed anti-depressants in last year

One in four people in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area were prescribed anti-depressants in the last year according to shocking new statistics. 

The figure, the highest of all 11 councils in the North, was revealed in the ‘General Pharmaceutical Services for Northern Ireland: Annual Statistics 2024/25’ report published on June 26, 2025.

25.0% of the population in Derry and Strabane was prescribed anti-depressants in the year 2024/25, compared to 24.5 last year, marking a 14.7% increase between 2019/20 and 2024/25. 

37,693 people in the Derry and Strabane Council area were prescribed anti-depressants in the year 2024/25 - an increase of 783 people on the previous year, marking a 14.5% change between 2019/20 and 2024/25. 

Of the 11 councils in the North, Derry had the third highest number of people prescribed anti-depressants in the last 12 months. Belfast City Council was highest with 80,617 and Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon was second with 43,033. The Belfast figure increased 9.5% between 2019/20 and 2024/25. The Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon figure increased by 12.3% over the same time. 

However, all council areas saw increases in prescribing rates. In total, anti-depressants were dispensed to 398,448 people in the North in 2024/25 - more than  one fifth of the total population and an increase of 1.5% compared with 2023/24.

The report highlighted that prescribing rates of anti-depressants across a range of metrics had increased.

40% or 4 in every 10 women aged 45 to 64 were prescribed anti-depressants. 27.3 % of the population in the most deprived percentile were prescribed anti-depressants. This is 56% higher than in the least deprived percentile.

Speaking to The Derry News, Sara Boyce, campaign organiser for New Script for Mental Health said: “One in four people in Derry and Strabane are on antidepressants - the highest rate in Northern Ireland.

“It is no coincidence this area also has the highest rates of poverty, including child poverty. This is a mental health crisis driven by inequality. 

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“While medication can play a role, people are too often left with no other option. We need more meaningful, community-based support for mental health. We urgently need action: stop the overprescribing, restore vital community services, and offer real alternatives for healing. 

“New Script for Mental Health has secured the support of all the main political parties for its Give 5 Framework, calling on the government to be active in challenging the over-prescribing of drugs and in providing a wider range of healing options. The Department of Health must now set a target to cut unnecessary prescriptions within this mandate.” 

New Script for Mental Health is an initiative of Participation and the Practice of Rights (PPR), a human rights organisation founded by Derry’s Inez McCormack in Belfast and Dublin in 2006.