Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Monday announced a new federal initiative aimed at reducing the overprescription of psychiatric medications.
The effort, unveiled during a Make America Healthy Again Institute summit on mental health and overmedicalization, will focus on what Kennedy described as a more cautious and transparent approach to psychiatric treatment.
Kennedy said during his address
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.
The United States does not just face a mental health crisis, we face a dependency crisis driven by overmedicalization.
One in 10 6 American adults takes an antidepressant. One in 10 children are on prescription medication for their mental health.
30 percent of college students report using psychiatric medications in the past year. In nursing homes, more than half of the residents are on prescribed antidepressants.
That’s not a marginal issue. This is a system-level pattern. Too many patients begin treatment without a clear understanding of the risks… or how to come off of them.
That’s not informed consent.
Watch the clip below:
RFK Jr. says America is facing an overmedicalization crisis.
“The United States does not just face a mental health crisis, we face a dependency crisis driven by overmedicalization.”
“1 in 6 American adults takes an antidepressant.”
“1 in 10 children are on prescription… pic.twitter.com/hWfK9uQQ81
— MAHA Action (@MAHA_Action) May 4, 2026
As part of the initiative, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration will produce a report examining psychiatric prescribing trends across the country.
Senior HHS officials also issued a “Dear Colleague” letter stating that psychiatric medications “should not be understood as the only treatment option.”
Kennedy has long questioned the scale of psychiatric drug use and has raised concerns about antidepressants and other medications being prescribed too aggressively, particularly to young people.
There are also well-documented connections between SSRI use and mass shootings, although the science remains contentious.
Robert Kennedy, Jr. Bravely Points Out the Connection Between SSRI Antidepressant Use and Mass Shootings – Something Trump Also Touched On in His CNN Town Hall (VIDEO)
According to CDC data, roughly 16.5 percent of American adults were taking psychiatric medication as of 2020.
The American Psychiatric Association responded by saying it supports additional research, but it objected to claims that overprescription is the central driver of the mental health crisis.
The organization said, “Deprescribing alone is not a sufficient response.”
Kennedy’s initiative comes amid growing public debate over the widespread use of antidepressants, SSRIs, ADHD medications, and other psychiatric drugs, especially among children and teenagers.
