A care centre in Edmonton prescribed over 85,000 antidepresant drugs in 2021. It has remained the centre with the highest Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor (SSRI) prescriptions in London every year after until 2025.
Forest Primary Care Centre prescribed 112,327 SSRIs in 2025, an increase from the 87,118 in 2021.
SSRIs are the most commonly prescribed type of antidepressant used to ease symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The findings follow an increasing ongoing demand for mental health support within communities across the UK.
A spokesperson for Mind, a mental health charity that provides help with people struggling, said: “We recognise that antidepressants can play an important role in treatment for some individuals, alongside access to talking therapies, peer support, community services and other forms of mental health support.”
Other health centres such as Princess Street GP Practise in Southwark and Nelson Medical Centre in Kingston have also both seen an increase since 2021 in prescriptions numbers.
However no other centre has seen as high an increase as Forest Primary Care. Some centres such as GP At Hand in Fulham have even seen a decrease between 2021-2025.
A spokesperson for Mind said: “There are many factors that can influence prescribing rates in a particular area, including levels of deprivation, population demographics, the prevalence of mental health conditions, access to local services and the size of a practice’s registered patient population.”
They added it was therefore hard to say why this particular care centre has such a high rate of prescription.
On the other end of the spectrum there are a few centres that have seen the number of presecriptions decrease. Camden Extended Access centre and At Medics Streathem have both seen a levelling out of SSRI presriptions between 2021-2025.
Camden Extended Access centre saw their 378 prescriptions in 2021 decrease to 260 in 2025.
While this is the case for specific centres the general trend for prescriptions is a significant increase. Tooting Bec surgery in Wandsworth saw the number of people recieving SSRIs go from 428 2021 to 629 in 2025.
It may be that certain areas see repeat prescriptions or indeed have a higher population so the numbers may not reflect directly to the amount of people on antidepressant in the area.
Despite this it is the case that the Forest Primary Care Centre has topped the leaderboard by a significant margin. The second centre with the most prescriptions in 2025 was Princess Street GP with 69,798 compared to Forest Primary’s 112,327.
One young person who has been prescribed an SSRI, Chloe, said: “Antidepressants made me able to function again, to engage in the things I love to do that keep me healthy.”
Although she has been on the drugs for a few years she has decided that now is the time to come off them.
She said: “I have found that gradually reducing the dosage with the support of my GP is the best way to come off antidepressants, and I am now really looking forward to the future.”
Although Chloe is joining a group of people who are confident to come of the drugs it is the case that antidepressants are being prescribed more than ever. Around one in five people receive the medication as part of treatment in England, equating to roughly 92.6 million antidepressants for 2024-25.
More information about SSRIs can be found on the NHS website here.
The North East Londoner reached out to Forest Primary Care Centre for comment.
Featured image credit: Myriam Zilles
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