My criticism of the president’s Secretary of Health and Human Services, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has been my professional opinion. But Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. just made it personal.
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has started a campaign to reduce antidepressants in America. There are no doubt many doctors who prescribe antidepressants to patients who really don’t need the medication and there are doctors who over-prescribe the meds. RFK, Jr.’s plans to reduce the use of antidepressants are part of the “Make America Healthy Again” campaign. Kennedy wants to establish new guidelines for prescribing antidepressants. The problem is - Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. is NOT a doctor - he is a lawyer.
Why should a person who is not a doctor make decisions about antidepressants? Antidepressants serve a wide range of mental issues and disorders. One reason there are more antidepressants being prescribed today is because many mental disorders were not diagnosed years ago and people suffered alone with no help from medication. Today, the medication is available. In most cases the medication alone will not totally cure mental disorders, but the medication combined with action taken by the patient can work to ease the pain of mental disorder.
This issue is personal to me because I have been diagnosed with a severe case of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). My earliest recollection of my OCD started about 11 years old. Through my life, I suffered a silent torture that I thought no psychiatrist would understand. When I was young there was little to no information out about OCD and other mental disorders - consequently, many people suffered without ever getting help. For those who don’t have OCD or other mental disorders it’s easy to think the suffering is not serious, but in my case, my OCD had the power to stop my life. My OCD was so invasive and oppressive that throughout every day of my life I was not capable of moving forward and I stopped living life. Be thankful if you don’t fully understand what I am talking about.
My parents knew something was wrong with me when I was young and they took me to a psychiatrist twice. In both cases, the doctor said they could find nothing wrong with me. The big breakthrough with OCD came in 1987 following research at the UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles. But I was not aware of that and I went through life believing that no one else had a brain that worked the way my brain worked and that discouraged me from trying to seek help.
It was not until 1996 when I read Howard Stern’s book that I realized that the way my brain worked had a name. This was a major breakthrough. Stern talked about his OCD and I realized that though my OCD did not manifest the exact way his did - I realized that that was the way my brain processed life. From that point on I began to get help.
Today, my OCD is under control thanks, in part, to the medication I take and that medication is in the family of antidepressants. I have only shared a glimpse of my struggles with OCD, but this is not about the specifics of my OCD - it’s about the fact that a member of the president’s cabinet with zero medical training may ultimately have an impact on the medication I take that helps with my OCD. The medicine is not a miracle cure, but the medicine is a weapon that helps me win the battle. There is a lot I still have to do to keep my OCD in check, but the medicine gives me more of a fighting chance.
Here are just a few of the ridiculous things Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has said:
- Vaccines are linked to autism. (Why did so many of us take vaccines when we were young and we don’t have autism?)
- 5G technology is being used to control behavior and it causes cancer.
- HIV does not lead to AIDS.
- Antidepressants are responsible for mass school shootings.
All of the aforementioned comments are completely without research or merit and a sample of the nonsensical raging of our current Health and Human Services Secretary.
Any new guidelines implemented could make it difficult - or impossible - for people like me to get the medication that helps them live a happy and productive life. Should Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. be setting any guidelines concerning antidepressants?
