Kennedy's push to limit antidepressants sparks Prozac panic in America

His remarks aligned with an executive order issued by President Donald Trump the previous week, establishing the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which Kennedy now chairs, News.Az reports citing foreign media.

Tasked with tackling chronic disease—particularly among children—the commission will assess whether selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are being overprescribed, with Trump requesting a report on their prevalence and potential risks.

Kennedy Jr. launched an investigation into the potential role of antidepressants in the rise of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and obesity.

Kennedy claims that SSRIs, the most commonly prescribed class of antidepressants, may contribute to public health crises—alongside vaccines and pesticides. His views have raised alarms in a country where at least one in ten people rely on these medications.

The commission overseeing this investigation has been primarily tasked with developing a strategy focused on children’s health within six months.

However, given Kennedy’s long-standing criticism of SSRIs, many fear this initiative could pave the way for restrictive policies, potentially leaving millions of mental health patients without essential medication.

To date, Kennedy’s lack of medical training has done little to bolster confidence in his scientific judgment. The US Health Secretary has a history of promoting controversial views.

Kennedy’s past remarks on antidepressants

In 2024, Kennedy suggested that the rise in school shootings could be linked to antidepressant use. He argued that while guns have always been available, mass shootings only began occurring after the introduction of SSRIs.

“There’s no time in American history or human history that kids were going to schools and shooting their classmates. It happened coterminous with the schools and shooting their classmates. It happened coterminous with the introduction of these drugs—Prozac and others,” Kennedy said then.

The backlash was swift.

Critics accused him of deflecting attention from one of America’s most pressing issues. American journalist Liz Plank likened his logic to blaming car accidents on airbags.

“It’s a spectacular failure of logic. Guns don’t kill people, but Lexapro apparently does,” she wrote.

Plank also pointed out that while SSRIs are prescribed worldwide, the US remains an outlier in its mass shooting epidemic.

Public frustration grew as hundreds took to social media to share personal stories about the vital role antidepressants have played in their lives.

“I wouldn’t be alive without my antipsychotics and antidepressants,” one person posted on X.

“It’s disturbing to see our government focus more on restricting medication than enacting real gun control.”