Debating SSRIs While Millions with Mental Health Conditions Go Untreated

• By: Malika Closson, MD Freespira
• September 11th, 2025
• black box warning, depression and anxiety treatment, FDA, innovative digital therapeutics, mental health treatment, pregnancy, SSRIs
• 839    0

The FDA recently convened an expert panel which debated whether there should be stronger warnings about potential adverse effects of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI) use during pregnancy. This comes after much previous debate around the current antidepressant black box warning related...

Treating Depression in Pregnancy Is Lifesaving—Here’s What the FDA Panel Got Wrong

• By: Paige Bellenbaum, LCSW, PMH-C Perinatal Mental Health Specialist and Adjunct Professor, Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College
• July 24th, 2025
• FDA policy, health equity, maternal mental health, mental health, mental health stigma, perinatal depression, perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, postpartum depression, pregnancy, reproductive health access, ssri treatment, suicide prevention
• 1050    0

This week, the FDA held an unbalanced and largely inaccurate panel discussion on SSRI use during pregnancy. Of the 10 presenters on the panel (three from outside the U.S.), only one represented the robust body of research demonstrating the safety and efficacy of taking SSRIs during the perinatal...

Teen Mothers: When Stigma Trumps Compassion (and Research)

• By: Jean Wittenberg, MD The Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry
• July 18th, 2025
• adolescence, adversity, discrimination, healthcare, inequality, maternal mental health, pregnancy, social determinants of health, stigma, Summer 2025 Issue, support, teen motherhood
• 1200    0

Key points: Many teen mothers succeed but do so despite the stresses that stigma imposes on them. Stresses on both mothers and babies are associated with severe health consequences, sometimes affecting their entire lives. Healthcare providers are often experienced as stigmatizing by teen...