RFK Jr.’s War on Antidepressants Could Have Dire Consequences

As the Department of Health and Human Services encourages “deprescribing” of certain medications, the impact on mental health treatment could be severe.

Earlier this month, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. kicked off Mental Health Awareness Month with the launch of several initiatives to reduce the prescription of antidepressants. Kennedy announced the plan—which includes new clinical guidelines, training for physicians, publishing new research on prescription trends, and changes in insurance billing—at a daylong mental health summit at the Make America Healthy Again Institute.

“Psychiatric medications have a role in care, but we will no longer treat them as the default. We will treat them as one option, used when appropriate with full transparency and with a clear path off when they are no longer effective,” Kennedy said at the summit.

HHS also issued a “Dear Colleague” letter to providers, encouraging physicians to consider “evidence-based non-pharmacological interventions” for their patients, including psychotherapy, social interaction, exercise, and diet changes. Although the HHS letter does not name any specific medications, Kennedy has previously expressed skepticism about antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, or SSRIs.

Experts say that while discussions about mental health treatments are not unwelcome, this new messaging from Kennedy and the HHS risks obscuring the benefit of antidepressants. It also raises larger concerns that most people who struggle with depression or other disorders will not actually receive the assistance that they need.

“I think, if anything, we’re not providing enough care, rather than over-prescribing one class of medicine or another,” said Dr. Mark Rapaport, the president-elect of the American Psychiatric Association.

A survey published this year found that more than 16 percent of Americans reported antidepressant use—although there are significant disparities along racial lines, with Black, Hispanic, and Asian adults far less likely to use the medications than non-Hispanic white Americans. Some research has also shown that Black and Hispanic Americans are less likely to receive treatment for depression overall than their white counterparts, and have longer delays between depressive episodes........

© New Republic