Kennedy equates heroin, SSRI withdrawal at event
By: Sara Moniuzzko
USA Today
WASHINGTON - Health and Human Serves Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. again compared his experience with heroin withdrawal to a family member's discontinuation of antidepressants in a May 4 [2026] speech to his Make America Healthy Again faithful.
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"I was addicted to heroin for 14 years. I never wanted to be. I was constantly getting off of it and then getting back on. and I went through cold turkey withdrawal probably over 100 times. and so I know what it's like, and it's not fun," Kennedy said. "but I've watched people come off of SSRIs and it is, it's not even comparable," he said, referring to selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors, a class of antidepressants.
..... Side effects few and withdrawal from psychiatric medications were major talking points at the MAHA Institute's Mental Health & Over medicatization Summit, with many panelists and attendees pushing for changes like black box warning labels, better informed consent and more non-drug treatment options.
..... Kennedy said he watched a family member become suicidal after discontinuing SSRIs.
..... "She woke up every morning and said, "I don't want to live,'" he said. "And that's heartbreaking to hear from a family member, and I've heard that from hundreds and hundreds of people."
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It wasn't the first time Kennedy has shared this comparison. He said something similar in his confirmation hearing in January 2025.
..... Some experts have taken issue with these comments. For example, psychiatric nurse practitioner Sean Leonard, who focuses on additions medicine, previously told USA Today he disagrees with any comparison between SSRIs and heroin.
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The difference is "night and day." Leonard said. "It's so hard to come off an opiate. Your brain craves it, your body craves it; serotinin, not so much." taking someone off of an SSRI is called "withdrawal," Leonard continued, but it's "nothing to the extent like opiates."
..... There has been a push from some experts for doctors to warn patients of withdrawal symptoms before starting an SSRI, and for more reproducible studies on antidepressant withdrawal.
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Withdrawal symptoms usually last one to two weeks, and are typically mild, according to the American Academy of family Physicians and the U.K. National Health Service.
..... However, according to the Cleveland Clinic, one study showed that 2% of people who experienced discontinuation symptoms had those symptoms for three or more years.
..... People are more likely to have symptoms if they suddenly stop medication (as opposed to tapering),have been on the medication for years or take a high dose, according to Cleveland Clinic.
..... Kennedy promised action, including data on prescribing trends and clinical guidelines on drug tapering.
..... "For the first time," he said, HHS will train providers this summer [2026] at more than 1,400 community health centers on how to do medically supervised tapering.
..... To an explosion of applause, Kennedy said the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services will issue billing guidance that "allows clinicians to get paid for prescribing work."
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Kennedy did add one clarifier.
..... "If you are taking psychiatric medication, we're not telling you to stop,: he said. "We're making sure that you and your clinician have the information and support to make the right decisions for you."
..... Non-medication treatment methods for conditions like depression can include psychotherapy, social support and lifestyle changes like improved sleep hygiene, exercise and diet. But when such treatments alone aren't working, antidepressants can be lifesaving, though they should always be monitored closely by a doctor.
..... Contributing: Alyssa Goldberg and Hannah Yasharoff, USA Today