Is RFK Jr. actually banning SSRIs? Here's what Floridians taking antidepressants need to know
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
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Hill
10 minutes ago
- The Hill
RFK Jr. on wearing jeans during workouts: ‘Now I'm used to it'
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. on Tuesday explained why he's often caught wearing jeans during workouts. 'Well, I just started doing that a long time ago because I would go hiking in the morning and then I'd go straight to the gym, and I found it was convenient,' he said during an appearance on Fox News's 'Jesse Watters Primetime.' He added, 'Now I'm used to it, so I just do it.' Kennedy recent posts online showcase him hiking in Colorado, fishing in Idaho and swimming at Rock Creek Park — all in a pair of jeans. His most recent viral post enlists a new workout drill for Americans entitled the ' Bobby Challenge.' The health secretary, who has spearheaded the Trump administration's ' Make America Healthy Again ' (MAHA) agenda, is encouraging people to do 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups in under five minutes. Kennedy could be seen doing the challenge alongside Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Monday, also in a pair of jeans. 'This is the beginning of our tour challenging Americans to get back in shape,' he said in a clip of the their workout. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy also shared his interest in joining the challenge. ' @SecKennedy and @SecDef — sorry for the late reply, I was busy working double shifts at @USDOT and @NASA. I'm up for the challenge! And I happen to be in Texas with my buddy @WillCain,' he wrote Tuesday on social platform X. 'Let's MAHA.' The initiative also comes after President Trump signed an executive order last month to reestablish the Presidential Fitness Test at public middle and high schools across the U.S. The test is designed to reward students for achievements in physical education.
San Francisco Chronicle
40 minutes ago
- San Francisco Chronicle
The Latest: Texas GOP poised to approve map gerrymandered for their advantage
The first domino in a growing national redistricting battle is likely to fall Wednesday as the Republican-controlled Texas legislature is expected to pass a new congressional map creating five new winnable seats for the GOP. The vote follows prodding by President Donald Trump to stave off a midterm defeat that would deprive his party of control of the House of Representatives. Democrats who refused round-the-clock police escorts to ensure they'd provide a quorum were confined to the House floor, where they protested on a livestream. They've vowed a blue-states payback for the Texas map, with California's legislature poised to approve a retaliatory gerrymandering for the state's voters to consider in November. Evacuating for a hurricane could expose immigrants to deportation Natural disasters have long posed singular risks for people without permanent legal status. But with the arrival of peak Atlantic hurricane season, immigrants and their advocates say Trump's militaristic immigration enforcement agenda has increased the danger. Places considered neutral spaces by immigrants such as schools, hospitals and emergency management agencies are now suspect, and many local first responders now collaborate with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. For people without legal documents, this can mean having to choose between physical safety and avoiding detention. The fear can extend into disaster recovery as agencies share information with deportation agents. In past disasters, the Department of Homeland Security said it would suspend immigration enforcement, but that's now unclear. DHS Assistant Secretary Tricia McLaughlin said CBP hasn't issued guidance 'because there have been no natural disasters affecting border enforcement.' Hundreds of federal health employees sign a letter protesting Kennedy's actions The employees at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other federal agencies have signed a letter charging that Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has endangered their lives and the rest of the public. The two-page letter sent to Kennedy and members of Congress cites his anti-science rhetoric, denigration of federal workers, layoffs affecting public health programs and Kennedy's decision to replace members of a vaccine advisory panel with a handpicked group that includes some anti-vaccine advocates. It faults Kennedy's delayed response to an Aug. 8 shooting at the CDC's main campus in Atlanta. And it asks Kennedy to stop spreading false health information, affirm the CDC's scientific integrity, and guarantee the safety of the HHS workforce. About 400 current employees signed their names, most of them from the CDC but some from the National Institutes of Health and other health agencies. Also signing the document are some noted former CDC leaders, including former acting director Dr. Anne Schuchat.
The Hill
an hour ago
- The Hill
Repealing EPA's endangerment finding will cause a public health nightmare
As America faces increasing health threats from wildfire smoke, summer heat waves and rising cases of asthma and other respiratory illnesses, the last thing we need is to reverse laws that protect U.S. air quality. Yet, that's precisely what the Trump administration intends to do by proposing a repeal of a central scientific finding that serves as the basis for the Clean Air Act — legislation that has saved millions of American lives and been responsible for monumental advancements both to our environment and public health. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced last month the agency plans to end a long-held 'endangerment finding' that asserts carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases present a risk to human health. If that happens, it will neutralize the federal government's ability to combat climate change and enforce laws intended to protect America's wellbeing. One of those laws is the Clean Air Act. Enacted in 1970, it has been one of the most successful public health policies in U.S. history. It's credited with reducing six of the most common air pollutants in the U.S. by nearly 80 percent while saving over 230,000 early deaths and avoiding over 120,000 emergency room visits every year. It has reduced chronic bronchitis, infant mortality and prevented millions of cases of asthma exacerbation as well. These statistics aren't conjecture: They're sourced directly from the EPA's own website, the same agency now leading the charge to turn the clock back on these remarkable achievements. Zeldin's announcement claims that the reversal of the endangerment finding will 'undo the underpinning of $1 trillion in costly regulations.' But the positive U.S. economic impact from the Clean Air Act alone far exceeds this figure. By reducing hospital visits, sick days and treatment of costly respiratory-related disease, the EPA estimates the Clean Air Act has created $2 trillion in U.S. economic benefit as of 2020 — twice the amount Zeldin asserts the endangerment finding's repeal would create. Further, clean energy has proven itself to be a source of strong job creation. The Department of Energy found that jobs in renewable energy grew more than twice as fast as the vibrant 2023 U.S labor market. And the science couldn't be clearer: Clean air is critical to public health. 'Decades of research have shown that air pollutants such as ozone and particulate matter increase the amount and seriousness of lung and heart disease and other health problems,' the EPA states. Worse, those pollutants are disproportionately burdened by communities of color. A 2024 Milken Institute of Public Health study found that marginalized communities have eight times the number of pediatric asthma cases and a 30 percent higher chance of dying early from pollution exposure. That same study attributed this inequality to the close proximity many minority communities share with industrial manufacturing facilities. Imagine what those numbers would be if the endangerment finding is reversed and the U.S. can no longer enforce Clean Air Act provisions. Zeldin referred to the EPA action as 'driving a dagger into the heart of the climate change religion,' and that it would be 'the largest deregulatory action in the history of America.' But doing so will only cause greater sickness in America and inundate an already stressed U.S. health care system. Increased exposure to air pollution will result in higher numbers of emergency room visits, increased rates of chronic illness and heightened health care costs. The medical and environmental advocacy community agree greater exposure to carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas is a bad idea. Groups such as the American Lung Association, American Public Health Association, American Thoracic Society, World Wildlife Fund, along with nursing organizations and medical societies all stand in strong opposition to the EPA's proposed action. Zeldin's proposal follows another questionable deregulatory move by the EPA in recent weeks to reintroduce dicamba, a weed killer used on soybeans and cotton. Use of the pesticide was halted by a federal court last year. A 2020 study in the International Journal of Epidemiology found that exposure to dicamba was reportedly 'linked to some cancers, including liver cancer and a type of leukemia affecting the blood and bone marrow.' But the EPA has argued it 'has not identified any human health or dietary risks of concern.' The U.S. government's job is to protect America's citizens. The Clean Air Act has saved millions of lives, safeguarded our skies and proven that environmental laws and economic progress can peacefully coexist. Repealing the endangerment finding will set America on a dangerous path and put the health and welfare of every American at risk.
