Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (RFK Jr.) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the launch of a new effort to help Americans shift away from relying on psychiatric prescriptions, including antidepressants.
“Today, we take clear and decisive action to confront our nation’s mental health crisis by addressing the overuse of psychiatric medications—especially among children,” Secretary Kennedy stated.
“Too many patients begin treatment without a clear understanding of the risks, and how long they will stay on these drugs, or how to come off them,” Secretary Kennedy said during a mental health and overmedicalization summit hosted by the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Institute.
“We are going to fix it,” he added.
According to The Wall Street Journal (WSJ), antidepressants are some of the most widely prescribed medications in the U.S., with a survey of more than 30,000 U.S. adults conducted in 2025 finding that 16.6% of them were actively taking prescriptions.
In a press statement released by HHS, the agency affirmed that it will work to prevent the “unnecessary initiation of psychiatric medications” and help patients “not experiencing clinical benefit” come off these prescriptions “through a multipronged approach, including education and outreach, program and policy actions, and research-to-practice efforts.”
Agencies under HHS will work together to evaluate prescription patterns for psychiatric medications, these drugs’ benefits, potential harm, and to prioritize “nonmedication treatments and scalable, evidence-based solutions to improve mental health.”
“We will support patient autonomy, require informed consent and shared decision-making, and shift the standard of care toward prevention, transparency, and a more holistic approach to mental health,” Secretary Kennedy assured. “Let me be clear: If you are taking psychiatric medication, we are not telling you to stop. We are making sure you—and your clinician—have the information and support to make the right decision for you.”
