Is RFK Jr. actually banning SSRIs? Here's what Floridians taking antidepressants need to know
Are antidepressants next on Trump's chopping block?
President Donald Trump issued an executive order last week to establish the "Make America Healthy Again Commission" to target chronic diseases, especially mental illnesses.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will chair the committee. The order outlines ways they plan to combat chronic illness, including education on healthy lifestyles and the effects of new technological habits.
The order also highlights statistics regarding America's high chronic disease percentage and lower life expectancy compared to other countries.
"To fully address the growing health crisis in America, we must re-direct our national focus, in the public and private sectors, toward understanding and drastically lowering chronic disease rates and ending childhood chronic disease," the order states. " … We must restore the integrity of the scientific process by protecting expert recommendations from inappropriate influence and increasing transparency regarding existing data. We must ensure our healthcare system promotes health rather than just managing disease."
Some of the commission's goals involve targeting mental health and the use of antidepressants. Here's what to know.
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, also called SSRIs, are one of the most prescribed antidepressants. They can treat symptoms of depression and other conditions, such as generalized anxiety.
The Mayo Clinic explains how SSRIs work, noting that serotonin is one of many chemical messengers in the brain called neurotransmitters, which carry signals between nerve cells in the brain.
"After carrying a signal between brain cells, serotonin usually is taken back into those cells, a process called reuptake. But SSRIs block this process," the clinic writes. "Blocking reuptake makes more serotonin available to help pass messages between brain cells. SSRIs are called selective because they mainly affect serotonin, not other neurotransmitters."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved these SSRIs to treat depression:
Citalopram (Celexa)
Escitalopram (Lexapro)
Fluoxetine (Prozac)
Paroxetine (Paxil)
Sertraline (Zoloft)
SSRIs are a specific type of antidepressant.
Antidepressants are common prescription medications that can help treat depression and other conditions, such as anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorder, according to the Cleveland Clinic.
According to the National Institute of Mental Health, 8.3% of U.S. adults ages 18 or older had a major depressive episode in 2021; for those aged 18-25, this rate jumped to 18.6%. The monthly antidepressant dispensing rate for young people increased 66.3% from January 2016 to December 2022, according to a 2024 study in the journal Pediatrics.
Several types of antidepressants target specific neurotransmitters, including:
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs)
Serotonin-noradrenaline reuptake inhibitors (SNRIs)
Norepinephrine and dopamine reuptake inhibitors (NDRIs)
Tricyclic and tetracyclic antidepressants (TCAs)
Serotonin antagonists and reuptake inhibitors (SARIs)
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOIs)
As of now, no. The executive order says it will address the possible overmedication of children and the risks of antidepressants.
One of the commission's goals is to "assess the prevalence of and threat posed by the prescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, antipsychotics, mood stabilizers, stimulants, and weight-loss drugs."
According to NBC News, some SSRIs are approved for children starting at ages 6 to 10 depending on their condition; however, they are far more commonly used by adults than minors.
Kennedy has been vocal about his distrust for antidepressants; however, many health experts claim he is spreading misinformation about their drugs' impacts.
In 2024, Kennedy speculated that antidepressant use could explain the rise of school shootings, despite a lack of scientific evidence to support such claims.
'There's no time in American history or human history that kids were going to schools and shooting their classmates,' Kennedy told the comedian Bill Maher on an episode of the podcast 'Club Random With Bill Maher' in April 2024. 'It happened, you know, it really started happening conterminous with the introduction of these drugs, with Prozac and the other drugs.'
When asked about this during a hearing with the Senate Finance Committee last month, he lacked a clear response on whether he stood by his claims. 'It should be studied along with other potential culprits,' he said, adding, 'I just want to have good science.'
Kennedy also compared serotonin uptake inhibitors SSRIs to heroin addiction.
'Listen, I know people, including members of my family, who've had a much worse time getting off of SSRIs than people have getting off heroin,' he said.
USA TODAY interviewed psychiatric nurse practitioner Sean Leonard who disagreed with any comparison between SSRIs and heroin.
'Serotonin receptor sites versus the opiate receptor sites is night and day,' Leonard says. 'It's so hard to come off an opiate. Your brain craves it, your body craves it; serotonin, not so much.'
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Fort Myers News-Press: Trump targets antidepressants in executive order. What to know
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