Medications used to treat depression rank among the most commonly prescribed drugs in the United States, with roughly one in six American adults taking an antidepressant.
In recent years, however, some health researchers and patient advocates have questioned whether antidepressants are being prescribed too widely. They have also warned that many people who decide they want to stop taking the drugs find it difficult to do so.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr has become one of the most high-profile figures raising those concerns. In May 2026, he launched an initiative urging doctors, where possible, to consider alternatives to antidepressants and other psychiatric medications for treating depression.
Psychiatry experts say the reality is more complicated. Antidepressants offer important benefits for many patients, while also carrying potential drawbacks. Although there is some basis for concerns about overuse, the broader evidence does not support a simple conclusion.
What are antidepressants, and who takes them?
More than half of all prescribed antidepressants are selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, known as SSRIs. The first of these drugs, fluoxetine — widely recognized by the brand name Prozac — received approval in 1987. Other SSRIs are available, along with several other classes of antidepressants that work through different biological mechanisms.
Antidepressants can be effective for people with moderate to severe depression. They are generally not recommended for mild depression, however, because their side effects may outweigh the likely benefits. A range of effective non-medication treatments is available for people with milder symptoms.
Still, the line between mild and more serious symptoms can become blurred. In common conversation, “depression” may refer to anything from a passing case of the blahs to a severe clinical illness that requires treatment.
One in six American adults takes some form of antidepressant medication
Primary care clinicians routinely use a widely accepted questionnaire to screen patients for depression. The tool can help identify people who may need additional assessment or treatment. But when it is used alone as a diagnostic measure, it can be misread or interpreted incorrectly.
A person having a bad week or two who scores higher on a screening test might be prescribed a medication that was not necessary.
But the tool can also fail to flag people who do need care. Over a third of people who die by suicide have visited a primary care provider in the month before their death. For those 55 and older, it rises to more than two-thirds.
Prescribing in general practice
According to a 2026 analysis, most prescriptions for antidepressants in the US are not written by psychiatrists. In some cases, these medicines are prescribed by nurse practitioners or physician assistants with psychiatric qualifications, but most are written by primary care providers, who are not specialists in mental health.
Clinicians who provide primary care don’t just have less time to evaluate patients’ mental health concerns. They also have less access to ways of treating depression apart from medication, such as talk therapy.
Primary clinics that have behavioral health providers and consult with psychiatrists tend to help patients more effectively and provide more treatment options. These types of collaborative approaches to care are still rare but are becoming more common.
Today’s primary care providers do receive more training on mental health issues, and they are often more equipped to recommend lifestyle changes that can be especially helpful for people with less severe depression symptoms.
But it’s simply human nature that when given a choice between taking a daily medication and engaging in activities that require commitment and intention, many will choose medication.
The opposing forces of stigma and access
Stigma has been a long-standing barrier in seeking mental healthcare.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety and depression have become more prevalent. That’s particularly true among adolescents and young adults – especially young women, who tend to experience less stigma around mental health issues.
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New rules during the pandemic also made it significantly easier for people to access mental health treatment – both therapy and medications – remotely, via telehealth. Such access continues to grow.
Before the pandemic, only one percent to two percent of antidepressant medications were prescribed via telehealth. By 2022, it was roughly one-third.
Given these trends, and the fact that clinicians often turn to medication for treating depression regardless of the severity, the uptick in antidepressant prescriptions since 2020 should come as no surprise.
Virtual visits allow people to navigate more easily around stigma and find increased and convenient access to care. And many people feel more comfortable getting such care in a primary care clinic rather than a mental health clinic.
Systemic issues drive prescribing
For all these reasons, one could argue antidepressant medications are likely overused in some cases. Undoubtedly, some people who take them either don’t benefit from them or could address their symptoms in other ways.
On the other hand, expanded access to mental healthcare – including medication – has also enabled people who need treatment to receive it. Even now, many Americans with serious depression receive no or limited treatment.
What’s more, this imbalance reflects systemic problems in the US healthcare system at least as much as physicians’ prescribing habits or patients’ requests.
For example, primary care clinics are a great place to screen for mental health issues, but getting proper treatment may involve more specialized care – which many patients can’t access.
And on the business side, clinicians get little support in helping patients with lifestyle changes and non medication treatments – rather than prescribing drugs.
Katie (pictured above) was prescribed the generic version of Prozac but claims she quickly became consumed by an ‘overwhelming’ feeling of panic and agitation. Then came an almost uncontrollable need to move
Difficulties in ditching antidepressants
Kennedy has claimed that for some people, stopping antidepressants can be harder than quitting heroin. Research suggests such extreme effects of discontinuing medication are rare, though not unheard of.
Any time a person is on a medication for a significant period of time, the brain and body adapt to establish a new balance. This happens with other substances, too – as any regular coffee drinker who has tried abruptly quitting knows.
People who want to stop taking antidepressants after being on them for a long time generally do best when they gradually taper their dose over weeks to months, unless they have a specific reason for stopping more quickly.
For antidepressants, clinicians watch for withdrawal symptoms including sleep problems, flu-like symptoms, headaches and an electrical buzzing sensation in the head.
A 2024 review of dozens of rigorous studies that compared the experiences of people taking antidepressants with those taking a sugar pill found that roughly a quarter of people stopping antidepressants experienced some withdrawal symptoms, and for three percent, they were severe.
While certain antidepressants might be more likely to cause withdrawal symptoms, it’s tough to tell who might have the most difficulty. And for some patients, depression is a chronic illness for which they must take medication indefinitely.
However, most people working with an experienced clinician are able to successfully discontinue these drugs. Ultimately, what’s most important is that patients are able to consult with a knowledgeable provider in making that decision.
This article is adapted from The Conversation, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to sharing the knowledge of experts. It was written by Andrew McLean, a clinical professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at the University of North Dakota. It was edited by Alexa Lardieri, the US health editor at the Daily Mail.