New figures show the use of medication to help people cope with their "blues" has soared by 57 per cent over the past 10 years.  And there are now more than four million prescriptions a year for "Happy Pills" such as Prozac - costing £36million.

Labour health spokesman Dr Richard Simpson said the NHS statistics - showing 9.7 per cent of the population aged over 15 is on drugs for depression - were "extremely worrying".

The MSP, a fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatry, said: "The SNP promised to stabilise the prescription of anti-depressants but they've FAILED and numbers continue to rise.

"But the daily use of drugs should be a last resort for all but severely affected patients. "We need to make much more use of alternative treatments, such as cognitive behavioural therapy, a form of counselling.

"We have fallen behind England, where an additional 3,000 therapists have been trained." Billy Watson, chief executive of the Scottish Association for Mental Health (SAMH), said: "These are difficult times and the recession is having a widely reported impact on the mental health of the nation.

"We believe the best way to support people with mental health problems is to provide prompt access to a wide range of treatments, including talking therapies and exercise.  "Unfortunately, people are still being prescribed anti-depressants because other options are not routinely available to GPs."  Mr Simpson added: "In at least one area, patients have had to wait up to 77 WEEKS for psychological therapies. "So it's no wonder GPs keep prescribing anti-depressants.

"We need a concerted effort and the commitment of extra resources to change Scotland's worrying reliance on them."  One group offering drug-free treatment is Glasgow's Centre For Confidence and Well-Being, which specialises in "Positive Psychology".

Chief executive Carol Craig said: "We've lost touch with values that create good, healthy lives. It's about having a job, having people you care about and can rely on.  "It's about exercise, learning, the small satisfactions you get out of life - like learning a musical instrument.  "It's NOT about sitting in front of the TV, looking at things you don't have."

But the Scottish Government was also slammed by Tory spokeswoman Mary Scanlon.  She said: "The SNP manifesto stated their aim to reduce the use of anti-depressants by 10 per cent by 2009.  "Yet since they took over in 2007, the use of the drugs has gone UP by 10 per cent.

"More than a third of all GP appointments stem from stress, anxiety and depression, so this increase in prescribing is very serious indeed. The SNP has failed on yet another manifesto commitment. The broken promises just keep on coming."  But Public Health Minister Shona Robison hit back, claiming that decisions to prescribe drugs were clinical matters for doctors alone.

She said that in many cases the drugs helped patients live normal lives instead of being 'disabled' by mental illness.  Ms Robison added: "Nevertheless, it is encouraging that the rate of increase in prescribing them has slowed significantly.  "At the same time, we have been working hard with NHS boards to improve access to non-drug treatments, such as talking therapies."