More Belgians see a psychiatrist

The demand for mental health care in Belgium has increased substantially. Psychiatrists saw four times more patients in 2012 than in 2003, writes De Standaard.

Health sociologist Yvo Nuyens of the University of Leuven compiled figures from Belgium’s National Institute for Health and Disability Insurance (Riziv/Inami), and concluded that in 10 years - between 2003 and 2012 - the number of consultations with psychiatrists nearly quadrupled from 87,000 to 330,000 per year.

Psychiatrists in private practices also saw a significant increase in patients, a number that has doubled from 454,000 per year in 2003 to 1.193 million per year in 2012.

The use of drugs for mental disorders has also increased. Daily intake of Ritalin, for example, rose from 250,000 in 2004 to nearly 1.5 million in 2012. The use of classical antidepressants increased in the same period by 40%. More than a million Belgians take antidepressants on a daily basis.