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"I was on the maximum dose of antidepressants that any fully grown adult could be on at the age of 17," she says.

The majority who, like Emma, are eventually diagnosed with bipolar disorder, are incorrectly prescribed antidepressants initially, which makes their symptoms worse rather than better.

Many antidepressants, along with deep-brain stimulation and ketamine, work by activating the same pathways in the brain involved with learned helplessness, Mayburg said.

Kennedy has repeatedly mischaracterized autistic people by falsely claiming autism is caused by vaccines while attacking life-saving medications like antidepressants, insisting that instead force people with mental illness would benefit from “healing” farms.

“I didn’t have a backup antidepressant, and I was terrified.”