The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is launching a new campaign aimed at reducing the consumption of antidepressants. According to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Secretary of Health and Human Services under the Trump administration, the government’s goal is to curb the “overprescription” of psychiatric medications and encourage the practice of “deprescribing” (the gradual tapering of medication). This initiative has already drawn criticism from the American Psychiatric Association (APA), which argues that the country’s mental health crisis is driven not by overmedication, but by a lack of access to treatment.
Speaking at an event organized by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Institute, Kennedy noted that psychiatric drugs—specifically Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs)—should no longer hold the status of “standard of care.” According to him, they should be treated as just one alternative, prescribed with full transparency and a clear plan for safe discontinuation. It is noteworthy that in the past, Kennedy has linked antidepressants to the rise in school shootings without providing evidence. Nevertheless, he clarified that the new policy does not encourage anyone to abruptly stop their medication and that the process must be managed in consultation with a physician.
The HHS has already sent an official letter to medical professionals urging doctors, particularly in pediatric cases, to avoid overmedication and to prioritize non-pharmacological interventions for treating depression—such as psychotherapy, diet, physical activity, and social connection. The department also released a guide stating that mental health specialists will be reimbursed for medical services provided during the management of the medication withdrawal process. For context, according to a 2025 study, nearly 17% of respondents across all 50 U.S. states use antidepressants, and a large portion of the population opposes restrictions on access to these medications.
The American Psychiatric Association (APA), which represents over 40,000 physicians, responded to the initiative with a formal statement. While the organization welcomes funding for research in this direction, it disagrees with the government’s assertion that the mental health crisis is caused by doctors “overprescribing” medication.
“This characterization oversimplifies a complex crisis and ignores the reality: many patients lack access to timely and comprehensive treatment. The approach fails to account for staffing shortages and the scarcity of psychiatric hospital beds,” the statement reads. Psychiatrists warn the government that deprescribing alone is insufficient to solve the crisis and that the solution lies not in stigmatizing psychiatric medications, but in ensuring patient access to evidence-based, full-spectrum care.
