Britain 'is true Prozac Nation'

Britain is a "Prozac Nation" facing a crisis in mental health care, Liberal Democrat leader Nick Clegg will warn.

In a speech later he will say the over-use of pills and poor mental health services are failing the public.

The party has obtained figures showing waits of more than two years for some counselling and psychotherapy services. Mr Clegg said the Lib Dems would guarantee treatment within 13 weeks. The government guarantees hospital, but not community care, within 18 weeks.

In a speech to The Guardian Public Services Summit in St Albans, Hertfordshire, Mr Clegg will say: "Britain has become the true Prozac Nation. I believe this trend has gone too far. We must cut the number of anti-depressants prescribed by doctors. Pills must not be a crutch for the wider issues in our society which cause mental health problems."

The Lib Dems questioned over 100 NHS trusts - receiving 33 replies - about the psychology, counselling, psychotherapy and eating disorders help they provide. They asked the trusts for data on the longest waits they had for the non-emergency treatment.

Psychotherapy and counselling services had the longest waits with six trusts recording waits of more than two years. Overall, the longest wait recorded by each trust averaged out at seven months. The findings, obtained under the Freedom of Information Act, come as hospital patients face shorter and shorter waits.

By the end of this year, trusts have to ensure all patients are seen within 18 weeks. But this does not cover community care, such as the mental health services for people with conditions like depression.

The Lib Dems believe this should be rectified with leader Nick Clegg expected to set out a range of policies on Friday to help people needing mental health treatment. If elected, the Lib Dems pledge treatment within 13 weeks and if that target was missed patients would have the right to private treatment.

Experts have blamed the long waits in mental health care for the soaring rates of antidepressant drug prescriptions. More than 31 million prescriptions for drugs such as Prozac were issued in England in 2006 after an almost continuous rise over the last 10 years. Mr Clegg said he recognised there was a role for medication, but that it should not be the default option.

Paul Farmer, chief executive of Mind, said: "Three years is too long to make someone wait for help that could transform their life, possibly even save their life. Scrimping on basic mental health services is a false economy. If someone can't get help when they first need it, their health will deteriorate, and they will require more intensive care later on."

But a Department of Health spokesman said: "We are continuing to work towards improving access to mental health services and specifically psychological therapies, where we know capacity is particularly challenged."

She said £170m of extra funding for psychological therapies would mean an extra 900,000 will get treatment for conditions such as depression and anxiety over the next three years.