RFK Jr. Wants to Crack Down on Psychiatric Overprescription. A Psychologist Says It’s More Complicated Than That

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a new federal plan this month aimed at addressing what the department calls “psychiatric overprescribing,” including efforts to promote appropriate prescribing, support deprescribing when clinically appropriate and increase awareness of non-medication mental health treatments.

RFK Jr. Wants to Crack Down on Psychiatric Overprescription. A Psychologist Says It’s More Complicated Than That. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced a new federal plan this month aimed at addressing what the department calls “psychiatric overprescribing,” including efforts to promote appropriate prescribing, support deprescribing when clinically appropriate and increase awareness of non-medication mental health treatments. The announcement enters an ongoing debate in mental health care: how to address inappropriate prescribing without discouraging people from treatments they may genuinely need. Dr. Kevin Chapman, a clinical psychologist and anxiety specialist, said the concern behind the plan isn’t baseless. It’s just incomplete. “I think there is truth to what the secretary is saying,” Chapman told RELEVA...