Robert F. Kennedy Jr. sparked online backlash after he made unexpected remarks about teenage girls, their mental health, and psychiatric drugs on his podcast, The Secretary Kennedy Podcast.

The United States Secretary of Health and Human Services shared his observations on the recent episode titled “The Truth About Psychiatric Drugs.” Speaking with his guest, Laura Delano, author of Unshrunk: A Story of Psychiatric Treatment Resistance, RFK Jr. said that he has been around “a lot of” teenage girls before describing them as “really crazy.”

The 72-year-old remarked that psychiatric drugs might hinder maturing and development in teenage girls when going through difficult situations, which he said they need to go through.

“I’m around a lot of young girls all the time, and they all seem, like, really crazy at that part of their lives,” the Secretary said, adding, “Most of them just get through it and figure it out. But if you put them on a regimen of psychiatric drugs at that age, they may not go through the things they need to go through.”

Delano agreed to RFK Jr.’s statements, claiming that the mental health industry fills up gaps for young women who are trying to find meaning in their experiences and ordeals. She also added that psychiatric diagnoses have almost become an identity for people, who often see them as a ‘badge of honor.”

Delano is the founder of Inner Compass Initiative, a nonprofit she started in 2018, which offers resources and peer support to people leaving the mental health system.

Delano spent more than 10 years taking 19 different psychiatric medications before she came to believe that the treatment itself was doing her more harm than good.

Ever since taking office as the Health Secretary in President Donald Trump‘s administration, RFK Jr. has faced criticism over several health-related statements.

RFK Jr., the HHS chief who oversees federal agencies like the U.S. Food and Dr*g Administration (FDA) and the National Institute of Health (NIH), yet again found himself in hot water after the release of his recent podcast episode.

Social media users were quick to critique his stance on psychiatric drugs and their use by teens.

“How refreshing to hear from an expert on psychiatric drugs,” one person said sarcastically on X, formerly Twitter. “Is someone out there listening to this fraud perpetrated by RFK Jr.? Anybody? He hasn’t said anything of merit or value since Trump appointed his useless a**,” another user’s comment read.

“That’s a reckless way to talk about teenage girls, especially from someone shaping mental health policy. Struggling teens need understanding and proper care, not to be dismissed as crazy,” a third person’s tweet read.

Yet another person said, “The guy in charge of youth mental health policy just called teenage girls ‘crazy’ and told them to figure it out. That’s not a take, that’s a liability.”

Other users called out his statement about being “around a lot of teenage girls.”

“Even if the point about medication is valid, that’s just a bad way to say it — RFK needs a better communications team,” said an X user. “Where exactly is he around young girls all of the time? Hanging out at Mar A Lago now?” another person wrote.

Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s stance on antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs has sparked criticism earlier too.

A January 2026 Stat News op-ed by two Harvard researchers warned that the Health Secretary’s antidepressant warnings for teens could cause dangerous medication discontinuation.

“Kennedy’s willfully uninformed rhetoric on antidepressants is going to cost lives. The similarity to his anti-vaccine chatter is clear: When you bad-mouth effective, lifesaving vaccines, you end up driving people away from lifesaving medical care,” the report read.