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She Spent 14 Years on Psychiatric Drugs. Now She’s Joining HHS to Fix the System.

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Cite

Code, J. (2026, November 2). She Spent 14 Years on Psychiatric Drugs. Now She’s Joining HHS to Fix the System. The Free Press. https://www.thefp.com/p/laura-delano-maha-hhs-rfk-psychiatry

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The Free Press · collected 2026-11-02 · by Josh Code
Content note This article describes suicide or self-harm.

Quick Summary

Laura Delano, who was prescribed 19 psychiatric medications from age 13 to 27, starts her role Monday as a senior policy adviser at HHS under Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aiming to reduce overprescription of antidepressants. She will help draft guidance for tapering off these drugs based on her personal journey detailed in her book "Unshrunk," which highlights the risks and consequences of psychiatric drug dependence.
Written by AI on 2026-11-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Laura Delano, who spent 14 years on psychiatric medications before tapering off them all by age 27, starts her new role as a senior policy adviser at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Monday. In this position, she will assist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in developing guidance to reduce the overprescription of antidepressants. Delano's appointment follows Kennedy’s announcement last year of a "MAHA Action Plan" aimed at curbing the excessive use of these drugs, particularly among children. Her journey began when doctors prescribed her 19 different psychiatric medications from age 13 until 27, including antidepressants and antipsychotics. Delano gained national attention in 2024 with her memoir "Unshrunk," which detailed the risks associated with psychiatric drug dependence and her personal struggle to wean off these drugs.

Written for “Jenniferabel Jimenez joins HHS” on 2026-11-02, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans left for article 122336 (high confidence, 1 verified quote) · logged 2026-11-02

Story

📰 Jenniferabel Jimenez joins HHS
Health · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

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How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
10
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
0%
0 of 10 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans left
of the writing, not the subject · beta estimate
Publisher signals
96/100
The Free Press's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
1
Health
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-11-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Free Press · 411 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Josh Code
5 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Monday is Delano’s first day as a senior policy adviser in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, where she will help him set guidance for tapering off antidepressants.
2026-11-02 · assertive framing · She Spent 14 Years on Psychiatric Drugs. Now She’s Joining HHS to Fix the System.
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2026-10-29 · assertive framing · Undo Legal Weed? Massachusetts Is Thinking About It.
🔮 He asked to be identified by his first name because he fears that he could lose his job if his employer found out that he uses Feel Free.
2026-10-04 · assertive framing · Accidentally Hooked on a Gas Station Drug
🔮 The park’s lease expires in 2028, and the land it sits on, across the freeway from Nvidia’s spaceship-esque headquarters, would bring in more tax revenue if it were used for basically anything else.
2026-08-25 · assertive framing · The Last Roller Coaster in Silicon Valley
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Connecticut Department of Health and Human Services Greenwich The Free Press a MAHA Action Plan

Subjects

Delano PERSON · 4× 2WAY ORG · 1× Connecticut GPE · 1× Department of Health and Human Services ORG · 1× Greenwich GPE · 1× Kennedy PERSON · 1× Laura Delano PERSON · 1× Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s PERSON · 1× The Free Press ORG · 1×

Narrative

In 2010, Delano began to taper off her meds—going through an agonizing five-medication withdrawal process—and when she came out on the other side, she realized that the anger, frustration, and self-harm that had been cited by her clinicians as diagnostic criteria were actually something very different.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-11-02
🔮 Monday is Delano’s first day as a senior policy adviser in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, where she will help him set guidance for tapering off antidepressants.
2026-11-02 · The Free Press
She Spent 14 Years on Psychiatric Drugs. Now She’s Joining HHS to Fix the System. · assertive framing

Claims (10 extracted, 0 hedged)

“I once believed deeply that the only reason I was alive was because I was on psych meds,” Laura Delano told me. asserted
Delano → believe → me
From age 13 until 27, doctors prescribed her a total of 19 psychiatric medications, including antidepressants and antipsychotics. asserted
doctors → prescribe → antidepressants
Now, she’s taking on a role in the federal government to curb the overprescription of those same drugs. asserted
she → take → drugs
Monday is Delano’s first day as a senior policy adviser in Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services, where she will help him set guidance for tapering off antidepressants. asserted
him → set → antidepressants
Her appointment comes six months after Kennedy announced a “MAHA Action Plan” to reduce the “overuse” of antidepressants, “especially among children.” asserted
Kennedy → come → children
Delano was, in many ways, the obvious choice to help him. asserted
Delano → help → him
For years, she has been highlighting the risks posed by psychiatric drug dependence, before rising to national prominence in 2024 thanks to her best-selling memoir, Unshrunk. asserted
she → highlight → memoir
The book details her tumultuous life story, from her upbringing in a privileged Greenwich, Connecticut family (yes, that Delano), to a 2008 suicide attempt and multiple hospitalizations, to a shocking realization: Her pills were making her worse, not better. asserted
her → detail → realization
The Free Press and 2WAY are teaming up for a real-time interactive election night special, November 3 from 8 p.m. ET until late. asserted
Press → team → late
In 2010, Delano began to taper off her meds—going through an agonizing five-medication withdrawal process—and when she came out on the other side, she realized that the anger, frustration, and self-harm that had been cited by her clinicians as diagnostic criteria were actually something very different. asserted
that → begin → criteria
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