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<\/p>\nPrescriptions for propranolol have surged over the past decade, sparking fears the \u2018quick-fix\u2019 drug is burying deeper mental health issues<\/p>\n
Victoria Taylor started taking beta blockers after being diagnosed with depression aged 13<\/p>\n
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Marine Saint<\/p>\n
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Hannah SchullerData Reporter and Researcher<\/p>\n
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Charlotte Purvis was panicking in her hotel room. It was the morning of a family wedding, and familiar anxiety had begun to wash over the 18-year-old. The thought of a crowded event made her heart race \u2013 her hands went clammy and she felt as if she were going to be sick. But Purvis had a solution: a small pink pill. A common beta blocker called propranolol.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was freaking out,\u201d she remembers now. \u201cI was convinced I needed it to get me through the day.\u201d Five years on, Purvis takes the pill three times a day. It has eased her nerves before big events \u2013 exams, job interviews, public speaking \u2013 and made life feel possible on days when even going into school or university felt daunting.<\/p>\n
Purvis is far from alone. According to NHS England data obtained by The Observer through a freedom of information request, propranolol prescriptions have increased by 37.6% over the past decade. The biggest increase is in prescriptions for girls and teenagers between 12 and 17 years old, which have risen by 92.3% \u2013 up from 618,813 prescriptions in 2015 to more than 1.1m in 2025. The second highest increase in use \u2013 at 81.7% \u2013 is among women aged 18 to 23. But doctors have warned the safety of the drug has been overestimated and that there is a risk that patients deal with the symptoms, rather than the root causes, of their anxiety. Some young women, such as Purvis, are concerned they have become reliant on the drug. \u201cIt\u2019s almost addictive because you\u2019re not feeling the symptoms,\u201d she says. \u201cTaking that away is a relief.\u201d<\/p>\n
Traditionally used for older patients with heart conditions, propranolol has been administered off-label to reduce physical responses to anxiety \u2013 high heart rate, sweating, trembling, nausea \u2013 since the 1960s. But its reputation as a quick fix has rocketed in recent years. The US media personality Khlo\u00e9 Kardashian says she takes it to deal with paparazzi. Prue Leith<\/a>, the former host of the Great British Bake Off, says she uses it to combat stage fright. \u201cTake that beta blocker, girl,\u201d quipped the actor Rachel Sennott during an interview at last year\u2019s Oscars.<\/p>\n It can take effect within an hour, and is an easily accessible alternative to NHS mental healthcare, for which waiting lists are long, because it can be prescribed by a GP. It also can feel less intimidating and lower-risk than common antidepressants, such as sertraline or citalopram, which \u2013 while recommended by doctors as a preferable option for the long-term treatment of anxiety \u2013 act by altering brain neurochemistry and can take weeks to work.<\/p>\n The increasing popularity of beta blockers among young women and girls points to a generation that has grown up with the pressures of social media and an epidemic of gender-based violence, as well as the isolating effects of Covid.<\/p>\n An NHS survey reported that by 2024, one in four young people had symptoms consistent with a probable mental health condition, and up to 20% \u2013 a record high \u2013 were referred to NHS mental health services. The proportion of these conditions was higher in women than men in all age ranges, and studies show women are more likely to medicate than men. The FoI data also shows that in the past decade more women than men have been prescribed propranolol.<\/p>\n The \u2018magic pill\u2019 reduced my panic attacks to one a month. But when I first took it, I stood up and passed outThe \u2018magic pill\u2019 reduced my panic attacks to one a month. But when I first took it, I stood up and passed out<\/p>\n Victoria Taylor, who has been taking propranolol<\/p>\n Victoria Taylor, pictured above, who was diagnosed with depression aged 13, started taking propranolol at university when her anxiety began to spike. A friend told her to ask her doctor for beta blockers, and she started taking them the same evening.<\/p>\n Taylor saw the benefits of the \u201cmagic pill\u201d almost immediately. \u201cI was in a cycle of lurching from one panic attack to the next all day, every day, and it reduced to one a month,\u201d she says. But she was given no guidance for how and when to use the drug, or what side-effects she might experience. When she first started taking propranolol, \u201cI stood up and passed out\u201d, Taylor says. It can cause dizziness because it lowers blood pressure and reduces oxygen flow to the brain. It can also cause low blood sugar, poor sleep and migraines.<\/p>\n Like Purvis, she now wonders whether she has become reliant on propranolol and questions the ease with which young women can be medicated. \u201cIt\u2019s quite worrying that people can just go: \u2018I\u2019m having a panic attack all the time,\u2019\u201d she says. \u201cBut is it a panic attack or just a normal reaction to the world being very scary?\u201d<\/p>\n NewslettersChoose the newsletters you want to receive<\/p>\n Clear, calm analysis on the stories driving the day\u2019s news.<\/p>\n The very best of our journalism, reviews and ideas \u2013 curated each day.<\/p>\n Puzzles people and the stories behind them – trends, histories, insights and brain teasers all in one place.<\/p>\n