Mental Health Caught in the Crossfire: Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs),Stigma,and the Political Debate

Abstract

Recent rhetoric in the media and from the United States Federal Government has called into question the effectiveness of antidepressants, namely selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), among other psychiatric pharmacotherapies. Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors have also been mentioned as potentially addictive similar to illicit narcotics and a potential threat to patients despite their status as first-line medications in treating depression. The purpose of this commentary is to review the potentially damaging effects such actions and language could have on patient perceptions of their conditions and medications, adherence, and in patients seeking mental healthcare secondary to the reinforcement of damaging stigma.