The number of prescriptions issued in Tayside last year was 313,010 compared to 297,102 in 2008. That’s 857 prescriptions a day.

The figures were released following a Freedom of Information request by the Evening Telegraph.

Dr Andrew Buist, deputy chairman of the British Medical Association’s Scottish general practitioners committee and a GP in Tayside, said, “In recent years there have been attempts to make people more aware of depression and encourage people to come forward and seek help.

“Recently there have been the suicides in Tayside and it just makes people aware of mental health issues generally.

“Antidepressants have a place, but not every time, because feeling down is normal. Sometimes it might be because somebody has died or you’re not getting on with your partner.

“These situations are normal reactions to life events, but the important thing for a doctor is to recognise and put this in context for a patient so they see that they will start to feel better in a short time if they just talk to people, take a bit of exercise and allow a bit of time to pass.

“But there are other types of low mood which people say there is no reason for, it just happens, and if it is prolonged and severe how does a doctor recognise that? Probably just clinical experience and having seen it hundreds of times.”

Dr Buist said sometimes someone’s low mood is mixed up with a lot of social issues, which could include being in trouble with the police, housing problems, drugs or alcohol or financial difficulties.

“That’s another reason why things could be worse now as we move into a financial downturn and jobs are lost,” he said.

“If you lose your job you will feel down. Often there can be a pressure on a doctor to do something.

“Would antidepressants do any harm? Would they do any good?

“The main thing a person needs is job and financial security, but often there is pressure from the patient or the family to do something so sometimes they are given an antidepressant on the basis that it might help.

“However, if you send them away with some words of advice, the patient will say, ‘Well, thanks very much. But how is that going to help me?’, so it can be tricky.

“Antidepressants are a very useful drug and I think doctors can stand accused of overusing them, but we certainly try our best not to do that.”

A spokeswoman for the Scottish Association for Mental Health said antidepressant prescribing has been increasing across Scotland for quite a few years, although the rate of increase has slowed recently.

“However, we need better statistical recording in order to know whether the rise is due to more people being prescribed antidepressants or the same people receiving higher doses,” she said.

“Sometimes antidepressants are the best treatment option.

“However, people should be given a choice of treatments. Official government guidance says antidepressants should be prescribed for people with a history of moderate to severe depression or when other approaches have not helped.

“We want to see equal access to other approaches, such as talking therapies, exercise and guided self-help.”

Ken Lawton, chair of the Royal College of General Practitioners Scotland, said GPs are getting better at detecting depression, but unfortunately, there are not enough alternative options available such as counselling and talking therapies, cognitive behavioural therapy and exercise schemes.

He said, “We need to improve the options available to patients and look at a broad range of solutions which incorporate other factors such as lifestyle, diet, family and working life.

“Many medium or severe cases of depression are prescribed antidepressants for a minimum of two years, so this is clearly a complex issue and not simply a case of doctors ‘dishing out’ pills.”

Public health minister and Dundee East MSP Shona Robison said, “Since 2008 there has been significant work to support appropriate prescribing in Scotland through the work of the Mental Health Collaborative which is in place to work with NHS boards in supporting delivery of NHS mental health targets.

“Research work undertaken by the University of Aberdeen, and published in the British Journal of General Practice, September 2009, would suggest that in 99% of cases, the prescribing is in accordance with clinical guidelines.”