Senator Tina Smith (D-Mn), who voted for the U.S. Ministry of Health and Welfare a few hours to hear the Senate Finance Committee on Wednesday of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. I blamed it spread. Mental health care and antidepressants.
In 2024, Kennedy speculated that the use of antidepressants could explain the increase in school shooting, despite lack of scientific evidence supporting such claims.
“There is no time for children to go to school and shoot classmates in the history of the United States and the history of humanity,” said Kennedy in the episode of the podcast “Club Random with Bill Maher” in April 2024. Talk to Bill Maha. With the introduction of these drugs using Prozac and other drugs, it began to intensify. “
He had a clear response when he asked Kennedy if he was in a suspicious claim. “It should be studied with other potential criminals,” he said, “I just want to have a good science.”
However, research has shown that there is no causal relationship between the use of antidepressants and the shooting at school, and Smith added that most schools were not treated with antidepressants. “There was no evidence of relevance,” he added.
Do you need a break? Play US toDay Daily Crossword Puzzle.
Kennedy compared the serotonin -capturing inhibitor (SSRI), a general type of antidepressant, including Prozac, Zoloft, and Lexapro, with heroin poisoning.
“Listen, I know people, including my family members. They spent much worse than the heroin getting off the heroin,” he told Smith. Kennedy had previously hooked on heroin.
However, Sean Lenade, a practitioner of psychiatric nurse who is focusing on poisoning medicine, opposes the comparison of SSRI and heroin.
“The serotonin receptor and opium receptor site are day and noon,” Leonard says. “It is very difficult to leave the opium drug. Your brain is eager to it, and your body is as long as it is. Serotonin, not so much.”
And antidepressants can save their lives for those who are suffering from depression, OCD, anxiety, and other mental health. Smith himself revealed that the experience of depression and the experience of taking SSRI were “personal for her.”
“These statements, which connect antidepressants to school shooting at school, will strengthen the stigma that people who are mental health every day are facing every day,” Smith added. “And I am very worried that this is another example of your record that shares a false misunderstanding that actually damages people.”
Other Wellness News: Sign up to the newsletter talked by everyone on USA Today.
What happened at the hearing? RFK Jr. is facing the opposition from the Senator in a burning confirmation hearing.
The problem of linking school shooting to medicine
Dr. Rally Girgis, an associate professor of clinical psychiatry at the University of Columbia, and a chief researcher in 2022 research on the massic murder, used to use a drug therapy and gunfire to USA TODAY. He said there was no.
“SSRI and general psychotropic drugs are not responsible for mass shooting or violence in any way,” GIRGIS said in email. “These psychiatric drugs have certain anti -violence characteristics.”
People with serious mental illness that have not been treated are more likely to be a victim of violence and self -flame than being violent against others.
“This is a complaint to ignorance … there is no evidence to prove that something is wrong, so it must be true,” he said, as a sociurer player and a senior advisor at the Frameworks Institute. One Julie Sweatand said at a press conference on Wednesday. “But here he mentions correlation in a way to suggest a (RFK Jr.) causal relationship.
What do you care about “Maha” supporters?
How does SSRI actually work?
Selective serotonin reconnection inhibitor (SSRI) is an antidepressant class that treats depression and other mental health by raising the level of serotonin. This is a neurotransmitter that helps control mood, appetite, sleep, memory, social behavior, and libido. Cleveland clinic.
According to the National Institute of Psychiatry, 8.3 % of adults aged 18 or older had a large -scale depression episode in 2021. This rate jumped to 18.6 % for 18 to 25 years old. According to Journal Pediatrics survey in 2024, the monthly antidepressant distribution rate for young people increased by 66.3 % from January 2016 to December 2022.
RFK Jr. wants to remove food dyes. These “crunchy mother” is ready.
In a hearing on Wednesday, Smith asks Kennedy about the previous comment that Americans taking mental health drugs are “addicts” and “need to be sent to wellness farms to recover.” I did it. Kennedy denied his past statement.
However, in July, he called a group of people taking ADHD medicine and SSRI, and those who rely on opioid and benzodiazepine as “addicts.”
He has announced a plan to send people suffering from the rural areas of “Wellness Farm”. On Wednesday, he revealed that these treatment programs should be available but were not forced to attend.
Leonard says that taking someone from SSRI is called the “withdrawal process”, but says, “There is nothing like an opium.” He added that people usually increase the dose and experience headaches, fatigue, and anxiety.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, people suddenly stop taking medication, take medication, take medicine, or take high doses, but stop taking medications. It is more likely that you have symptoms.
According to NHS and US home physician Academy, withdrawal symptoms usually start within five days after the drug is stopped, usually for a week to two weeks, and is usually mild. However, some people have severe withdrawal symptoms for more than a few months. One study showed that these symptoms last up to one year, but according to the Cleveland Clinic, another study shows that 2 % of those who have experienced the cancellation symptoms last more than three years. It was done.
However, some symptoms are the recurrence of depression that the antidepressants have been treated, not the progress of the progress. People need to create individual treatment plans with prescription doctors.
Dr. Georges Benjamin, an executive director of the American Public Health Association, said at a press conference on Wednesday, “People take certain medicines and feel inappropriate or blamed.” 。 “Because it is necessary to explain the use of these messages, it is different from hypertension, diabetes, or other drugs and other diseases because it requires a clear explanation of mental hygiene.”
Contribution: Hanna solder
This article has been updated to include new information.