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Title: The Anti-Depressant Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Luvox by Peter R. Breggin, M.D. Peter R. Breggin ISBN: 073820451X Publisher: Perseus Publishing Pub. Date: 03 July, 2001 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $14.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 3.2
Rating: 5
Summary: A Must Read For Patients and Professionals
Comment: This comprehensive book about anti-depressant medications picks up where Talking Back To Prozac left off. Dr. Breggin, through his vast personal experience and research as a medical expert in legal cases against the drug manufacturers, as well as his carefully documented research into the psychopharmacology of anti-depressants provides us with a great deal of information that is available no where else.
Although quite disturbing to read, The Anti-depressant Fact Book is so well written and so clear that it is appropriate reading for the mental health professional as well as for the general public. Dr. Breggin discusses the meaning and purpose of depression as an emotional response to things, people, and situations in our lives, rather than as a biochemical disease in our brains. He points out that depression also reflects the contrasting desire in us that we have to live a more creative, meaningful life. This is in sharp contrast to the majority of the psychiatric community who sees depression as an imbalance of brain chemicals that must be corrected by drugs.
Dr. Breggin explains in detail how the anti-depressant medications work, with special emphasis upon the selective seratonin reuptake inhibitors, (SSRIs') like Zoloft, Paxil, and Prozac. He carefully explains how the SSRI's block the reabsorbing of the brain chemical seratonin, causing an excess amount of it to accumulate in the spaces between neurons both in the brain and elsewhere. He goes on to explain how the brain then tries to fight back from this chemical assault by permanently eliminating receptors. This process is called "die-back" and results in sub-sensitivity of the receptors, better known as down regulation, leading to permanent dysfunction.
Dr. Breggin goes on to explain through current research findings, how the SSRI anti-depressants act in the brain like stimulants and he shows their striking similarities to the illegal drugs Ecstasy and cocaine in terms of dangerousness and the creation of Mania and akathesia. He goes on to describe a multitude of other problems that are directly attributable to these anti-depressants such as cardiovascular problems, parkinsonian symptoms, tardive dyskinesea, loss of sex drive, emotional blunting, suicide, and violent behavior. Of particular interest, Dr. Breggin highlights how these anti-depressant drugs often cause depression themselves, and particularly a very dangerous kind of depression; an agitated depression.
This book clearly spells out the great difficulties that people encounter when trying to stop taking these drugs and it suggests ways to soften the rebound and withdrawal effects of the drugs. Breggin also devotes a chapter to the special problems encountered when children are given anti-depressants along with the exceptional; brain damage that occurs. He goes on in yet another chapter to discuss the resurgence of electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) and to psychosurgery as treatments for depression. He likens ECT to a "closed-head electrical trauma to the brain." He also devotes a section to how some of the recent school violence and school shootings are linked to the anti-depressants.
Finally, Dr. Breggin devotes the last part of this book to how one can go about seeking real help for depression without the use of these dangerous and brain damaging medications. He describes how to find a therapist and what to look for in a therapist. I have found this book, written by one of the most well known and well respected psychiatrists in the world, a voluminous source of necessary and previously unobtainable information about anti-depressant medications. It is meticulously documented and highlights Dr. Breggin's lifelong work as the "conscience of psychiatry." I could not recommend it more highly to both the professional mental health community and to the public.
Rating: 4
Summary: Pharmacology's Ralph Nader Lands Another Punch
Comment: Breggin's attack on serotonin-enhancing drugs claimed to be "anti-depressants" should be seen as a valuable cautionary in an environment which, due to the power of the drug-makers and the billions of dollars at stake, tends to promote them as "happy pills." More controversial are his claims that depression is not a "disease" and that the use of antidepressant medications can cause irrevocable brain damage. The present-day tendency of calling numerous human problems "diseases" can, as Breggin asserts, discourage human solutions. On the other hand, if the problem is "hereditary," it may not be so amenable to common-sense, willful, "humane cures" as Breggin claims. Moreover, the assertion concerning brain damage places him on relatively safe ground, since the widespread use of Prozac is scarcely more than 10 years old.
Breggin touches on but fails to develop some important points. He suggests, for example, that the AARP is more interested in serving the big drug companies than helping its members but then drops the point. Certainly just as disturbing as the numerous prescriptions of antidepressants to patients motivated by a television ad to seek instant happiness is the indiscriminate prescription of antipsychotics to the elderly, especially in nursing homes where "behavioral problems" are an issue.
In short, Breggin has covered this ground before. He's David going up against Goliath, a brave Lilliputian challenging the likes of Eli Lilly, and he doesn't let us forget it for an instant, reminding us of his credentials and past battles at every opportunity. Many of the "facts" he provides in this book are no more than the warnings of side-effects that are listed in the instructions coming with the medication. In fact, Breggin frequently quotes them, as though by doing so he has made his case.
In short, this book will be of little value to the reader who has not been taken in by the extravagant claims and shameless promotions of the pharmaceutical industry or who has taken the time to look up information about a medication. On the other hand, for anyone who imagines that these medications do what they claim to do and that they are without side-effects potentially as disabling as the condition they are purported to treat, the book should be required reading.
Rating: 3
Summary: One side of the story
Comment: Dr. Breggin is clearly biased against psychotropic medication, but to discount his work on that basis is a mistake. He is a Harvard-trained psychiatrist with impeccable credentials, and his education and training led him to the beliefs he now holds. I find his writing and his views extremist: what it comes down to is a "blank slate" philosophy where environment is all that matters, not inborn traits. However, this is a helpful counterargument to the current biomedical model of mental illness where environment is irrelevant. Both views are too simplistic, as any thinking clinician will tell you that mental illness is almost always multiply determined, i.e. caused by several factors. People are not born depressed, but may become depressed over events in their lives; the genetic part involves how much it takes to make one depressed (or manic, or schizophrenic, or whatever illness it may be).
Your physician will not give you the information in this book. Breggin will not tell you how beneficial medication can be. Take the information from both sides so you can make an informed decision before accepting serious, long-term medication.
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