New figures from Denmark’s Sundhedsdatabanken show that the number of children on SSRI antidepressants nearly doubled between 2020 and 2025, rising from 3,694 to 7,050.
The data cover children and young people aged 0 to 17 who are treated with SSRI medication. The increase amounts to more than 90 percent over the five year period, DR reports. SSRI preparations are used in the treatment of depression, anxiety and OCD.
The figures were first described by Sjællandske Nyheder, which reported the same national data and profiled a 15 year old girl, Caroline, receiving antidepressants. According to DR, most of the treated children are between 13 and 17 years old. The data also include examples of children as young as five or six.
Psychologist and psychiatry researcher Anders Sørensen told DR that the numbers reflect a large group of children who are struggling. He described the development as sad, and said it is extra sad if medication is given instead of examining what the children are reacting to.
Nina Tejs Jørring, consultant psychiatrist and chair of the Danish Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Society, gave a different emphasis. As reported by DR, she said it is positive that society now recognizes that children can have psychiatric illness, and good that they receive medication when they need it. She called it very sad that there are not enough resources for psychotherapy and for support to parents and educators alongside the treatment.
DR also spoke with Marie Frandsen, whose son has autism and OCD and began antidepressant medication at the age of six. He is now 10. Per her account, the medication helped the anxiety linked to his OCD, but the family received no therapy or guidance on handling his obsessive thoughts.
Frandsen said the family eventually turned to private therapy as a supplement, and that her son has attended a treatment school for the past two and a half years. He remains on the medication. Sørensen argued that if Denmark uses this much medication in children, knowledge about how to taper off it must follow.
Health minister responds
Health Minister Ida Auken of the Social Democrats commented on the figures on DR’s P1 Orientering. She called it completely incredibly unfortunate that so many children are doing so badly that they must start antidepressant medication. She said children and young people should receive help as quickly as possible when they show signs of mental distress.
Auken pointed to an acute package for psychiatry that is due to be implemented, and said authorities must help as many children as possible who are on waiting lists for psychiatric care.
Background material from the Danish Medicines Agency, published in 2011, notes that fluoxetine is the only antidepressant authorized for depression in children over eight. Sertraline and fluvoxamine are authorized for OCD from ages six and eight respectively. The 2011 note also warns of increased risk of suicidal behavior and aggression in under 18s treated with SSRIs.
