One in six American adults — more than 55 million people — currently takes a selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor, or SSRI, to treat depression or anxiety. These medications, which include Zoloft, Lexapro, Paxil, and Prozac, are among the most studied and widely prescribed drugs in modern medicine. For millions of people, they are lifesaving.

On May 4, 2026, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a sweeping set of federal initiatives aimed at reducing SSRI prescribing across the country. At a daylong summit focused on what he called "overmedicalization," Mr. Kennedy repeated his claim that antidepressants can be harder to quit than heroin — a statement he has made without scientific evidence. No major medical organizations were invited to or represented at the event.

This matters because federal agencies have real power over what gets prescribed and what gets covered. The Department of Health and Human Services is now developing new clinical guidelines around deprescribing, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is introducing payment mechanisms designed to encourage patients to stop taking psychiatric medications. These are not small policy tweaks. They have the potential to reshape how millions of Americans access mental health care.

The American Psychiatric Association — the largest organization of psychiatrists in the United States — raised concerns about the approach. "We may take issue with this blanket 'overprescribing' hypothesis," said Dr. Marketa Wills, the group's chief executive and medical director. She noted that there are likely both over- and under-prescribing patterns in medicine, and that many people still cannot access mental health care at all.

The problem is building sweeping federal policy around disputed science, without the voices of practicing psychiatrists, clinical researchers, or the patients who depend on these medications to function. People who take SSRIs deserve care decisions made by their doctors, not shaped by ideology from the top.

We are calling on Congress to block any federal policy that restricts Americans' access to antidepressants. The Department of Health and Human Services must not be allowed to use clinical guidelines, reimbursement rules, or training programs as tools to push patients off medications that are working for them. If the federal government wants to improve mental health care, the answer is expanding access to therapy and support — not limiting the options that millions of people already rely on.

No one should lose access to a medication that keeps them well because a cabinet secretary decided it was overused.