Late last month, the FDA advisory panel – on the heels of the president’s “make America healthy again” executive order scrutinizing psychotropic medications – raised debate around the safety of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in pregnancy. Commonly called antidepressants, these medications are used to treat a range of disorders, and earlier this year a consortium of major mental health organizations pushed back on the administration’s stance.
As a perinatal psychiatrist who sees pregnant and postpartum people struggling with conditions such as depression and anxiety every week, I’m deeply concerned that this public discussion – chaired by the controversial FDA commissioner Marty Makary – shared significant misinformation about mental illness and the treatment modalities (with overly simplified statements denouncing “chemicals” during pregnancy).
