In his latest public health crusade, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the health secretary, is asking why millions of Americans have been taking psychiatric drugs for far longer than ever intended.
In the process, he’s highlighting an open secret in medicine: that doctors are better at starting drug treatments than at stopping them, and that patients who want to end their treatment are increasingly taking matters into their own hands.
Ellen Barry, a mental health reporter, takes us inside the growing movement to “deprescribe.”
Guest: <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/ellen-barry" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Ellen Barry</a>, a reporter covering mental health for The New York Times.
Background reading: Some psychiatrists fear that Mr. Kennedy’s call to rein in the use of depression medications will <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/05/24/science/rfk-jr-antidepressants-ssri-psychiatry.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">drive patients away from care.</a>
Photo: Darren Staples/Reuters
For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily" rel="noopener noreferrer">nytimes.com/thedaily</a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. 
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