Kennedy Pledges HHS Backing for Psychiatric Reform as 1 in 6 U.S. Adults Take Antidepressants
Updated
Updated · The New York Times · May 15
Kennedy Pledges HHS Backing for Psychiatric Reform as 1 in 6 U.S. Adults Take Antidepressants
5 articles · Updated · The New York Times · May 15
May 4 marked a new push from HHS, with Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to use the agency’s clout to drive “fundamental psychiatric reform” and confront what he called overprescribing.
Kennedy said psychiatric drugs should be treated as one option rather than the default, arguing patients often start treatment without clear risk disclosures and calling for wider use of nonpharmacologic care.
The pledge came at a Mental Health and Overmedicalization Summit hosted by the MAHA Institute, a Make America Healthy Again-linked think tank whose anti-vaccine activism has drawn broad scientific criticism.
The campaign taps into wider unease over psychotropic drugs: a 2025 study found 1 in 6 U.S. adults take antidepressants, while debate has intensified over SSRI effectiveness, side effects and pharmaceutical industry influence.
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