Available:*
Material Type | Library | Call Number | Suggested Age | Status |
---|---|---|---|---|
Book | Searching... Cabell County Public Library | 616.8527 BRE | Adult | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Known as "the Ralph Nader of psychiatry," Dr. Peter Breggin has been the medical expert in countless court cases involving the use or misuse of psychoactive medications. This unusual position has given him unprecedented access to private pharmaceutical research and correspondence files, information from which informs this straight-talking guide to the most prescribed and controversial category of American drugs: antidepressants. From how these drugs work in the brain to how they treat (or don't treat) depression and obsessive-compulsive, panic, and other disorders; from the documented side and withdrawal effects to what every parent needs to know about antidepressants and teenagers, The Anti-Depressant Fact Book is up-to-the minute and easy-to-access. Hard-hitting and enlightening, every current, former, and prospective antidepressant-user will want to read this book.
Author Notes
Known as the "conscience of psychiatry," Peter R. Breggin, M.D. is the International Director of the Center for Study of Psychiatry and Psychology and the author of dozens of scientific reports and books. His background includes Harvard College, a teaching fellowship at Harvard Medical School and two years at the National Institute of Mental Health
Table of Contents
A Reader Alert | p. xiv |
Acknowledgments | p. xvi |
Introduction: Drug Facts You Cannot Get Anywhere Else | p. 1 |
Too Little Skepticism | p. 2 |
Unique Sources of Information | p. 3 |
Getting Inside the Drug Companies | p. 4 |
Hiding the Facts | p. 6 |
Quietly Settling the Cases | p. 7 |
1 The Meaning and Purpose of Depression | p. 9 |
The Most Common Causes of Depressed Feelings | p. 10 |
Mired Down in Depressed Feelings | p. 11 |
The Special Vulnerability of Depressed Children | p. 12 |
When Nothing Helps | p. 13 |
Not a Disease | p. 14 |
Even Whole Cultures | p. 15 |
Depression Occurs in a Context | p. 16 |
Selling "Depression" as a Disease | p. 17 |
The "Official" Definition of Depression and Antidepressant | p. 18 |
Unanswered Questions | p. 20 |
2 Damaging the Brain with SSRI Antidepressants | p. 27 |
The Myth That Millions of Users Are Living Proof of a Drug's Safety | p. 29 |
Closely Related Drugs | p. 29 |
How SSRIs Work | p. 30 |
The Nature of Serotonin | p. 30 |
Limits of the Serotonin Theory | p. 31 |
The Complexity of the Serotonin System | p. 31 |
Disrupting the Serotonin System | p. 32 |
The Brain Fights Back | p. 34 |
Evidence for Permanent Damage and Dysfunction from SSRIs | p. 35 |
More Evidence for SSRI-Induced Brain Damage | p. 36 |
Drug Company Responses to the Danger of Permanent Damage | p. 38 |
Looking for the Critical Research | p. 39 |
Anticipating the Nature of Permanent Dysfunction | p. 41 |
3 Dangerously Stimulating the Brain and Mind with Antidepressants | p. 43 |
No Scientific Doubt | p. 45 |
All of the SSRIs | p. 45 |
The Stimulant Profile | p. 46 |
Causing Mania | p. 47 |
Burying the Mania Threat | p. 50 |
Hiding the Truth from the Beginning | p. 52 |
Deciding to Cover Up the Stimulating Effects | p. 53 |
Dissent Within the FDA | p. 55 |
Summing Up the Stimulant Pattern | p. 56 |
The Insidious Danger of Akathisia | p. 58 |
Variability in Patient Reactions | p. 59 |
4 Multiple Additional Risks When Taking SSRI Antidepressants | p. 62 |
Lemonade out of Lemons | p. 62 |
Common Adverse Reactions in the Body | p. 64 |
Cardiovascular and Bleeding Problems | p. 64 |
More Prozac Problems | p. 66 |
Extrapyramidal Reactions and Tardive Dyskinesia | p. 67 |
Fertility, Pregnancy, and Nursing | p. 69 |
Pituitary Gland Dysfunction | p. 70 |
Throughout the Body | p. 71 |
5 How SSRI Antidepressants Can Ruin Love and Family Life | p. 72 |
Impairing Our Self-Perception | p. 74 |
Love and the Brain | p. 74 |
The Mechanism of SSRI Sexual Dysfunction | p. 75 |
SSRI Indifference | p. 76 |
6 Depression and Suicide Caused by Antidepressants | p. 77 |
The FDA Knew from the Beginning | p. 79 |
Learning from Science and Clinical Experience | p. 80 |
Many Drugs Cause Depression | p. 81 |
Antidepressants, Mania, and Depression | p. 82 |
Prozac-Induced Suicide | p. 83 |
More Evidence from Drug Company Data Confirming Antidepressant-Induced Suicide | p. 85 |
The "Smoking Gun" | p. 86 |
Driving Patients to Suicide with Akathisia | p. 87 |
Additional Reports Confirming Antidepressant-Induced Suicidality | p. 88 |
Seeking a Suicide-Free Prozac | p. 89 |
Making People More Depressed with Antidepressants | p. 90 |
The Mechanism of Causing Depression and Suicide | p. 91 |
Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicide | p. 92 |
7 Criminal Behavior and Violence Caused by Antidepressants | p. 93 |
Playing at Being "The Saint" | p. 93 |
Taking Care of the Dog | p. 96 |
Ending in Physical Violence | p. 98 |
A Natural Desire to Hold People Responsible | p. 100 |
Antidepressants, Mania, and Violence | p. 101 |
The Danger of Agitated Depression | p. 102 |
FDA Recognition of Drug-Induced Violence | p. 103 |
Drug Mechanisms for Causing Violence | p. 104 |
Epidemiological Evidence from the FDA | p. 105 |
8 Dangerous Drug Interactions and a Genetic Vulnerability to Severe SSRI Toxicity | p. 107 |
The Serotonin Syndrome: Much too Much of a Supposedly Good Thing | p. 107 |
More than the Liver Can Handle | p. 108 |
A Missing Enzyme in the Liver | p. 109 |
More than the Plasma Proteins Can Contain | p. 110 |
9 Special Dangers of Treating Children with SSRIs | p. 112 |
Growing Numbers of Children on SSRIs | p. 113 |
Hazards to the Child's Brain | p. 113 |
The Vulnerability of Children to Adverse Reactions | p. 114 |
Confusing the Issue of Drug-Induced Mania in Children | p. 115 |
SSRIs and School Shooters | p. 116 |
Scientific Reports Linking SSRIs to School Shootings | p. 117 |
Allowing the Prescription of Unauthorized Drugs to Children | p. 119 |
Evidence for the Usefulness of SSRIs for Children | p. 120 |
A Situation Entirely Out of Control | p. 120 |
Forcing Parents to Drug Their Children | p. 121 |
10 Withdrawal Problems When Stopping Antidepressants | p. 123 |
How Drugs Cause Withdrawal Reactions | p. 123 |
An Example from a Non-Prescription Drug | p. 124 |
Lack of Physician Awareness | p. 124 |
Rebound Versus Withdrawal | p. 125 |
Interdose Withdrawal | p. 126 |
Withdrawal from the Older "Tricyclic" Antidepressants | p. 126 |
SSRI Withdrawal Symptoms | p. 127 |
The Most Common SSRI Withdrawal Problems | p. 127 |
The Most Dangerous SSRI Withdrawal Reactions | p. 128 |
Differences in Withdrawal Reactions Among SSRIs | p. 128 |
The Danger of Irreversible Withdrawal Reactions | p. 130 |
Anticipating How You Might React to Withdrawal | p. 130 |
How to Handle Withdrawal from SSRIs | p. 131 |
Ten Principles for Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs | p. 131 |
11 Physical Conditions That Cause or Worsen Depression | p. 134 |
The Elusive Biochemical Imbalance | p. 135 |
Physical Disorders That Can Cause Depression | p. 136 |
Medications as the Cause of Depressed Feelings | p. 137 |
Psychiatric Drugs Known to Cause or Worsen Depression | p. 137 |
Some Recreational Drugs That Can Cause Depression | p. 139 |
Medical Disorders That Commonly Cause Depression | p. 139 |
The Importance of a Good Medical Evaluation | p. 142 |
Diet and Depression | p. 142 |
12 No Such Thing As an Antidepressant | p. 144 |
Reviewing All the Recent FDA Studies | p. 144 |
Drug Company Tricks | p. 145 |
More Evidence That Antidepressants Do Not Work | p. 146 |
Growing Recognition of Drug Company Influence | p. 147 |
The Myth That Drugs Are Tested on Thousands of People Before They Are Approved | p. 148 |
The Myth That Millions of Users Are Living Proof of a Drug's Efficacy | p. 148 |
SSRIs as Panacea | p. 149 |
The Limits of FDA Approval | p. 151 |
13 From Lobotomy to Electroshock and Brain Stimulation | p. 153 |
Stopping Psychosurgery on Little Children | p. 155 |
Taking on the Harvard Surgeons | p. 156 |
Deep Brain Stimulation | p. 157 |
Causing Insanity | p. 158 |
Trying to Stop Shock Treatment | p. 159 |
Electrical Closed-Head Injury | p. 159 |
The Targets of Shock Treatment | p. 160 |
Failing to Tell the Truth | p. 160 |
Scientific Evidence for Brain Damage and Dysfunction from Shock | p. 161 |
The Promotional Campaign for Shock Treatment | p. 163 |
ECT for Suicide Prevention | p. 164 |
Committing Violence Under the Influence of Shock Treatment | p. 164 |
What Should Be Done About Shock Treatment? | p. 165 |
Transcranial Stimulation | p. 166 |
Light Therapy | p. 166 |
Your Doctor's Condition | p. 167 |
14 The Safety and Efficacy of Natural Remedies | p. 168 |
The Usefulness of Some "Alternative" Treatments | p. 169 |
St. John's Wort | p. 169 |
Other Remedies | p. 171 |
15 How Drug Companies Can Deceive the Courts, the Medical Profession, and the Public | p. 173 |
Caught in the Middle of a Fix | p. 175 |
Withholding Evidence from Their Own Expert | p. 175 |
The Testimony | p. 175 |
The Jury Verdict | p. 177 |
The Final Outcome | p. 177 |
My Own Reactions | p. 178 |
The Growing Impact of Drug Companies | p. 179 |
The Role of the Federal Government | p. 180 |
16 How to Overcome Depression: Suggestions for Patients and Therapists Alike | p. 182 |
The Moral Context of Therapy | p. 183 |
Drugs Versus Therapy and Life | p. 184 |
Psychotherapy for Depression | p. 185 |
What to Expect from the Therapy Relationship | p. 186 |
The Effect of Depression Personal Relationships | p. 187 |
The Effect of Depressing Therapy Relationships | p. 188 |
Identifying Depressing Relationships | p. 190 |
Helping Very Depressed People | p. 191 |
Welcoming the Depressed Feelings | p. 192 |
Dealing with Emotional Emergencies | p. 194 |
Expressing My Views on Drugs to Patients | p. 195 |
A Few Words for Therapists | p. 196 |
The Importance of Limiting the Therapy Relationship | p. 196 |
Love Is Not Enough | p. 197 |
The Importance of Relationship | p. 198 |
The Challenge of Being an Ethical Person and Therapist | p. 199 |
Doctors Who Practice Drug-Free Therapy | p. 200 |
Appendix A The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology | p. 201 |
Appendix B Ethical Human Sciences and Services | p. 203 |
Notes | p. 205 |
Bibliography | p. 211 |
Index | p. 218 |
About the Author | p. 226 |