Media

  • Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Is Harming The Nation's Response to the Mental Health Crisis, Psychiatrists Say

    OCTOBER 10, 2025

    The Committee to Protect Public Mental Health says that Kennedy has implemented changes to the nation's health agencies "in ways that endanger lives."

    In 2024, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s independent campaign for president released a highly polished documentary about his vision for solving the interconnected crises of addiction and mental illness in the U.S. In travels throughout the country, Kennedy, a recovering addict himself, met with advocates and people who were struggling to recover from substance abuse disorders. Throughout the documentary, he floated ideas that seemed New Age-y (”healing farms”), and some that sounded like throwbacks to a contentious era of involuntary commitment.

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  • NPR: Psychiatrists call for RFK Jr. to be replaced as health secretary

    OCTOBER 6, 2025

    Psychiatrists have joined other public health groups in calling for the removal of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as health secretary.

    Two psychiatry organizations — the Southern California Psychiatry Society and the recently formed grassroots Committee to Protect Public Mental Health — have released statements saying that the actions of the leader of the Department of Health and Human Services have increased stigma, instilled fear and hurt access to mental health and addiction care.

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  • A Message from the Southern California Psychiatric Society

    The Southern California Psychiatric Society, representing more than 1000 psychiatrists in the region, calls on the California congressional representatives and senators who represent our members to urge the California congressional delegation and the Senate Mental Health Caucus led by California Senator Alex Padilla to seek removal of Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. as Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services. Secretary Kennedy has repeatedly spread dangerous falsehoods about medical preventative services and treatments.

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  • Psychiatrists Rally in Los Angeles to Protest Cuts to Federal Mental Health Agency

    MAY 21, 2025

    Psychiatrists and mental health advocates rally in Los Angeles in protest of the proposed cuts to Medicaid.

    The decision to eliminate the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) and the proposed cuts to Medicaid by President Donald Trump have left many mental health clinicians and psychiatrists extremely worried.

    That’s why, in conjunction with the 2025 American Psychiatric Association (APA) Annual Meeting in Los Angeles last weekend, dozens of psychiatrists and mental health professionals held a rally to urge federal leaders to reverse course and reject the proposed cuts to Medicaid and restore SAMHSA. 

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