RFK Jr. Is Already Taking Aim at Antidepressants

mother jones ^ | 02/14/2025 | Kiera Butler

[BenLurkin]

Kennedy has repeatedly railed against what he sees as rampant overprescription of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, commonly known as SSRIs, which treat depression and anxiety and include medications like Prozac and Zoloft. As with his previous assertions about vaccines, many of his statements about these drugs are not backed by science. In a 2023 livestream on X with Elon Musk, he claimed that “tremendous circumstantial evidence” suggested that people taking antidepressants were more likely to commit school shootings. (Actually, most school shooters were not taking those drugs, evidence shows.) Kennedy has also called people who take SSRIs addicts—and then tried to claim he didn’t during his confirmation hearings.

...The Food and Drug Administration already requires drug manufacturers to include warnings in packaging because of some evidence that SSRIs can cause a temporary increase in suicidal thoughts in pediatric patients...

In a podcast appearance last July, Kennedy said he planned to dedicate money generated from a sales tax on cannabis products to “creating wellness farms—drug rehabilitation farms, in rural areas all over this country.” He added, “I’m going to create these wellness farms where they can go to get off of illegal drugs, off of opiates, but also illegal drugs, other psychiatric drugs, if they want to, to get off of SSRIs, to get off of benzos, to get off of Adderall, and to spend time as much time as they need—three or four years if they need it—to learn to get reparented, to reconnect with communities.” The farm residents would grow their own organic food because, he suggested, many of their underlying problems could be “food-related.”

During the confirmation hearings, Sen. Tina Smith (D-MN) said Kennedy’s statements about antidepressants “reinforce the stigma that people who experience mental health [conditions]…face every single day.”

[MTBobcat]

I meant the author’s claim that “most” mass shooters aren’t on an SSRI doesn’t mean that children on an SSRI aren’t more likely to commit mass shooting than those who aren’t.

She’s using a logical fallacy even if her claim was correct.

[kiryandil]

Kiera Butler, fabulist for Mother Jones:

(Actually, most school shooters were not taking those drugs, evidence shows.)

[Cedar]

I’m so glad your problem was solved. My neighbor eats healthy foods but probably hasn’t considered a food allergy as causing the issue.

[yldstrk]

Right. Take care.