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| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Anatomy of an Epidemic Robert Whitaker, 2010-04-13 Updated with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with new research, this New York Times bestseller is essential reading for a time when mental health is constantly in the news. In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Interwoven with Whitaker’s groundbreaking analysis of the merits of psychiatric medications are the personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. As Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, other societies have begun to alter their use of psychiatric medications and are now reporting much improved outcomes . . . so why can’t such change happen here in the United States? Why have the results from these long-term studies—all of which point to the same startling conclusion—been kept from the public? Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up. Praise for Anatomy of an Epidemic “The timing of Robert Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic, a comprehensive and highly readable history of psychiatry in the United States, couldn’t be better.”—Salon “Anatomy of an Epidemic offers some answers, charting controversial ground with mystery-novel pacing.”—TIME “Lucid, pointed and important, Anatomy of an Epidemic should be required reading for anyone considering extended use of psychiatric medicine. Whitaker is at the height of his powers.” —Greg Critser, author of Generation Rx |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Anatomy of an Epidemic Robert Whitaker, 2011-08-02 Updated with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with new research, this New York Times bestseller is essential reading for a time when mental health is constantly in the news. In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Interwoven with Whitaker’s groundbreaking analysis of the merits of psychiatric medications are the personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. As Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, other societies have begun to alter their use of psychiatric medications and are now reporting much improved outcomes . . . so why can’t such change happen here in the United States? Why have the results from these long-term studies—all of which point to the same startling conclusion—been kept from the public? Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up. Praise for Anatomy of an Epidemic “The timing of Robert Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic, a comprehensive and highly readable history of psychiatry in the United States, couldn’t be better.”—Salon “Anatomy of an Epidemic offers some answers, charting controversial ground with mystery-novel pacing.”—TIME “Lucid, pointed and important, Anatomy of an Epidemic should be required reading for anyone considering extended use of psychiatric medicine. Whitaker is at the height of his powers.” —Greg Critser, author of Generation Rx |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Psychiatry Under the Influence R. Whitaker, L. Cosgrove, 2015-04-23 Psychiatry Under the Influence investigates the actions and practices of the American Psychiatric Association and academic psychiatry in the United States, and presents it as a case study of institutional corruption. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: On the Laps of Gods Robert Whitaker, 2009-06-23 They Shot Them Down Like Rabbits . . . September 30, 1919. The United States teetered on the edge of a racial civil war. During the previous three months, racial fighting had erupted in twenty-five cities. And deep in the Arkansas Delta, black sharecroppers were meeting in a humble wooden church, forming a union and making plans to sue their white landowners. A car pulled up outside the church . . . What happened next has long been shrouded in controversy. In this heartbreaking but ultimately triumphant story of courage and will, journalist Robert Whitaker carefully documents–and exposes–one of the worst racial massacres in American history. On the Laps of Gods is the story of the 1919 Elaine massacre in Hoop Spur, Arkansas, during which white mobs and federal troops killed more than one hundred black men, women, and children; of the twelve black men subsequently condemned to die; of Scipio Africanus Jones, a former slave and tenacious black attorney; and of Moore v. Dempsey, the case Jones brought to the Supreme Court, which set the legal stage for the civil rights movement half a century later. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Mad in America Robert Whitaker, 2019-09-10 An updated edition of the classic history of schizophrenia in America, which gives voice to generations of patients who suffered through cures that only deepened their suffering and impaired their hope of recovery Schizophrenics in the United States currently fare worse than patients in the world's poorest countries. In Mad in America, medical journalist Robert Whitaker argues that modern treatments for the severely mentally ill are just old medicine in new bottles, and that we as a society are deeply deluded about their efficacy. The widespread use of lobotomies in the 1920s and 1930s gave way in the 1950s to electroshock and a wave of new drugs. In what is perhaps Whitaker's most damning revelation, Mad in America examines how drug companies in the 1980s and 1990s skewed their studies to prove that new antipsychotic drugs were more effective than the old, while keeping patients in the dark about dangerous side effects. A haunting, deeply compassionate book -- updated with a new introduction and prologue bringing in the latest medical treatments and trends -- Mad in America raises important questions about our obligations to the mad, the meaning of insanity, and what we value most about the human mind. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Unhinged Daniel Carlat, 2010-05-18 In this stirring and beautifully written wake-up call, psychiatrist Daniel Carlat writes with bracing honesty about how psychiatry has so largely forsaken the practice of talk therapy for the seductive—and more lucrative—practice of simply prescribing drugs, with a host of deeply troubling consequences. Psychiatrist Daniel Carlat has noticed a pattern plaguing his profession. Psychiatrists have settled for treating symptoms rather than causes, embracing the apparent medical rigor of DSM diagnoses and prescription in place of learning the more challenging craft of therapeutic counseling, gaining only limited understanding of their patients’ lives. Talk therapy takes time, whereas the fifteen-minute med check allows for more patients and more insurance company reimbursement. Yet, DSM diagnoses, he shows, are premised on a good deal less science than we would think. Writing from an insider’s perspective, with refreshing forthrightness about his own daily struggles as a practitioner, Dr. Carlat shares a wealth of stories from his own practice and those of others that demonstrate the glaring shortcomings of the standard fifteen-minute patient visit. He also reveals the dangers of rampant diagnoses of bipolar disorder, ADHD, and other popular psychiatric disorders, and exposes the risks of the cocktails of medications so many patients are put on. Especially disturbing are the terrible consequences of overprescription of drugs to children of ever younger ages. Taking us on a tour of the world of pharmaceutical marketing, he also reveals the inner workings of collusion between psychiatrists and drug companies. Concluding with a road map for exactly how the profession should be reformed, Unhinged is vital reading for all those in treatment or considering it, as well as a stirring call to action for the large community of psychiatrists themselves. As physicians and drug companies continue to work together in disquieting and harmful ways, and as diagnoses—and misdiagnoses—of mental disorders skyrocket, it’s essential that Dr. Carlat’s bold call for reform is heeded. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Generation Rx Greg Critser, 2005 Examines the possible consequences of the growth of prescription drug use and the impact of direct-to-consumer promotion (DTC) and off-label marketing. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Outside Mental Health Will Hall, 1966-02-03 Outside Mental Health: Voices and Visions of Madness reveals the human side of mental illness. In this remarkable collection of interviews and essays, therapist, Madness Radio host, and schizophrenia survivor Will Hall asks, What does it mean to be called crazy in a crazy world? More than 60 voices of psychiatric patients, scientists, journalists, doctors, activists, and artists create a vital new conversation about empowering the human spirit by transforming society. Bold, fearless, and compellingly readable... a refuge and an oasis from the overblown claims of American psychiatry - Christopher Lane, author of Shyness: How Normal Behavior Became an Illness A terrific conversation partner. - Joshua Wolf Shenk, author of Lincoln's Melancholy: How Depression Challenged a President and Fueled His Greatness Brilliant...wonderfully grand and big-hearted. - Robert Whitaker, author of Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America Must-read for anyone interested in creating a more just and compassionate world. - Alison Hillman, Open Society Foundation Human Rights Initiative An intelligent, thought-provoking, and rare concept. These are voices worth listening to. - Mary O'Hara, The Guardian A new, helpful, liberating-and dare I say, sane-way of re-envisioning our ideas of mental illness. Paul Levy, Director of the Padmasambhava Buddhist Center, Portland, Oregon A fantastic resource for those who are seeking change. Dr. Pat Bracken MD, psychiatrist and Clinical Director of Mental Health Service, West Cork, Ireland |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Emperor's New Drugs Irving Kirsch, 2010-01-26 Do antidepressants work? Of course -- everyone knows it. Like his colleagues, Irving Kirsch, a researcher and clinical psychologist, for years referred patients to psychiatrists to have their depression treated with drugs before deciding to investigate for himself just how effective the drugs actually were. Over the course of the past fifteen years, however, Kirsch's research -- a thorough analysis of decades of Food and Drug Administration data -- has demonstrated that what everyone knew about antidepressants was wrong. Instead of treating depression with drugs, we've been treating it with suggestion. The Emperor's New Drugs makes an overwhelming case that what had seemed a cornerstone of psychiatric treatment is little more than a faulty consensus. But Kirsch does more than just criticize: he offers a path society can follow so that we stop popping pills and start proper treatment for depression. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Saving Normal Allen Frances, M.D., 2013-05-14 From the most powerful psychiatrist in America (New York Times) and the man who wrote the book on mental illness (Wired), a deeply fascinating and urgently important critique of the widespread medicalization of normality Anyone living a full, rich life experiences ups and downs, stresses, disappointments, sorrows, and setbacks. These challenges are a normal part of being human, and they should not be treated as psychiatric disease. However, today millions of people who are really no more than worried well are being diagnosed as having a mental disorder and are receiving unnecessary treatment. In Saving Normal, Allen Frances, one of the world's most influential psychiatrists, warns that mislabeling everyday problems as mental illness has shocking implications for individuals and society: stigmatizing a healthy person as mentally ill leads to unnecessary, harmful medications, the narrowing of horizons, misallocation of medical resources, and draining of the budgets of families and the nation. We also shift responsibility for our mental well-being away from our own naturally resilient and self-healing brains, which have kept us sane for hundreds of thousands of years, and into the hands of Big Pharma, who are reaping multi-billion-dollar profits. Frances cautions that the new edition of the bible of psychiatry, the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders-5 (DSM-5), will turn our current diagnostic inflation into hyperinflation by converting millions of normal people into mental patients. Alarmingly, in DSM-5, normal grief will become Major Depressive Disorder; the forgetting seen in old age is Mild Neurocognitive Disorder; temper tantrums are Disruptive Mood Dysregulation Disorder; worrying about a medical illness is Somatic Symptom Disorder; gluttony is Binge Eating Disorder; and most of us will qualify for adult Attention Deficit Disorder. What's more, all of these newly invented conditions will worsen the cruel paradox of the mental health industry: those who desperately need psychiatric help are left shamefully neglected, while the worried well are given the bulk of the treatment, often at their own detriment. Masterfully charting the history of psychiatric fads throughout history, Frances argues that whenever we arbitrarily label another aspect of the human condition a disease, we further chip away at our human adaptability and diversity, dulling the full palette of what is normal and losing something fundamental of ourselves in the process. Saving Normal is a call to all of us to reclaim the full measure of our humanity. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Psychiatric Medication and Spirituality Lynne Vanderpot, 2017-07-05 Challenging an exclusively medical approach to mental health and illness, this book considers the impact psychiatric drugs can have on spirituality. In the last thirty years, a dramatic rise in medication as a treatment for mental illness has occurred in tandem with increasing numbers of people entering treatment with a spiritually-oriented understanding of their suffering. The unforeseen result is that some people taking psychiatric drugs are engaging with them in ways that can have a profound impact on the course and outcome of treatment. Based on interviews with people on psychiatric medication who regard spirituality as significant in their lives, this book reveals how medication can be perceived as both helpful and harmful to spirituality. The author argues that spirituality must be considered in debates around psychopharmacology. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Within Our Reach Rosalynn Carter, Susan K. Golant, Kathryn E. Cade, 2010-04-27 In Within Our Reach, Rosalynn Carter and coauthors Susan K. Golant and Kathryn E. Cade render an insightful, unsparing assessment of the state of mental health. Mrs. Carter has been deeply invested in this issue since her husband, former President Jimmy Carter, campaigned for governor of Georgia, when she saw firsthand the horrific, dehumanizing treatment of people with mental illnesses. Using stories from her 35 years of advocacy to springboard into a discussion of the larger issues at hand, Carter crafts an intimate and powerful account of a subject previously shrouded in stigma and shadow, surveying the dimensions of an issue that has affected us all. She describes a system that continues to fail those in need, even though recent scientific breakthroughs with mental illness have potential to help most people lead more normal lives. Within Our Reach is a seminal, searing, and ultimately optimistic look at how far we've come since Jimmy Carter's days on the campaign trail and how far we have yet to go. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Surviving Schizophrenia E. Fuller Torrey, 1995-01-06 The third edition of this indispensable manual thoroughly details everything patients, families, and mental health professionals need to know about one of the most widespread and misunderstood illnesses. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Insane Consequences D. J. Jaffe, 2017 In this in-depth critique of the mental healthcare system, a leading advocate for the mentally ill argues that the system fails to adequately treat the most seriously ill. He proposes major reforms to bring help to schizophrenics, the severely bipolar, and others-- |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Resisting Illegitimate Authority Bruce E. Levine, 2018-09-25 The capacity to comply with abusive authority is humanity’s fatal flaw. Fortunately, within the human family there are anti-authoritarians—people comfortable questioning the legitimacy of authority and challenging and resisting its illegitimate forms. However, asResisting Illegitimate Authority reveals, authoritarians attempt to marginalize anti-authoritarians, who are scorned, shunned, financially punished, psychopathologized, criminalized, and even assassinated. Profiling a diverse group of U.S. anti-authoritarians—including Thomas Paine, Ralph Nader, Malcolm X, and Lenny Bruce—in order to glean useful lessons from their lives, No Badges is the first self-help manual for anti-authoritarians. Discussing anti-authoritarian approaches to depression, relationships, and parenting, it provides political, spiritual, philosophical, and psychological tools to help those suffering violence and marginalization in a society whose most ardent cheerleaders for “freedom” are often its most obedient and docile citizens. Resisting Illegitimate Authority is about bigotry, but not bigotry directed at race, religion, gender, or sexual preference. It is about bigotry directed at rebellious personalities and temperaments. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Biological Mind Alan Jasanoff, 2018-03-13 A pioneering neuroscientist argues that we are more than our brains To many, the brain is the seat of personal identity and autonomy. But the way we talk about the brain is often rooted more in mystical conceptions of the soul than in scientific fact. This blinds us to the physical realities of mental function. We ignore bodily influences on our psychology, from chemicals in the blood to bacteria in the gut, and overlook the ways that the environment affects our behavior, via factors varying from subconscious sights and sounds to the weather. As a result, we alternately overestimate our capacity for free will or equate brains to inorganic machines like computers. But a brain is neither a soul nor an electrical network: it is a bodily organ, and it cannot be separated from its surroundings. Our selves aren't just inside our heads -- they're spread throughout our bodies and beyond. Only once we come to terms with this can we grasp the true nature of our humanity. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: No One Cares About Crazy People Ron Powers, 2017-03-21 New York Times-bestselling author Ron Powers offers a searching, richly researched narrative of the social history of mental illness in America paired with the deeply personal story of his two sons' battles with schizophrenia. From the centuries of torture of lunatiks at Bedlam Asylum to the infamous eugenics era to the follies of the anti-psychiatry movement to the current landscape in which too many families struggle alone to manage afflicted love ones, Powers limns our fears and myths about mental illness and the fractured public policies that have resulted. Braided with that history is the moving story of Powers's beloved son Kevin -- spirited, endearing, and gifted -- who triumphed even while suffering from schizophrenia until finally he did not, and the story of his courageous surviving son Dean, who is also schizophrenic. A blend of history, biography, memoir, and current affairs ending with a consideration of where we might go from here, this is a thought-provoking look at a dreaded illness that has long been misunderstood. Extraordinary and courageous . . . No doubt if everyone were to read this book, the world would change. -- New York Times Book Review |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Stigma Effect Patrick W. Corrigan, 2018-10-02 Despite efforts to redress the prejudice and discrimination faced by people with mental illness, a pervasive stigma remains. Many well-meant programs have attempted to counter stigma with affirming attitudes of recovery and self-determination. Yet the results of these efforts have been mixed. In The Stigma Effect, psychologist Patrick W. Corrigan examines the unintended consequences of mental health campaigns and proposes new policies in their place. Corrigan analyzes the agendas of government agencies, mental health care providers, and social service agencies that work with people with mental illness, dissecting how their best intentions can misfire. For example, a campaign to change the language around mental illness by replacing supposedly stigmatizing words with empowering ones has made little difference in how people with mental health conditions are viewed. Educational programs that frame mental illness as a brain disorder have made the general public less likely to blame people for their illnesses, but also skeptical that such conditions can be cured. Ultimately, Corrigan argues that effective strategies require leadership by those with lived experience, as their recovery stories replace ideas of incompetence and dangerousness with ones of hope and empowerment. As an experienced clinical researcher, as an advocate, and as a person who has struggled with such prejudices, Corrigan challenges readers to carefully examine anti-stigma programs and reckon with their true effects. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Zyprexa Papers Gottstein Jim, 2021-06 On December 17, 2006, The New York Times began a series of front-page stories about documents obtained from Alaska lawyer Jim Gottstein, showing Eli Lilly had concealed that its top-selling drug caused diabetes and other life-shortening metabolic problems. The Zyprexa Papers, as they came to be known, also showed Eli Lilly was illegally promoting the use of Zyprexa on children and the elderly, with particularly lethal effects. Although Mr. Gottstein believes he obtained the Zyprexa Papers legally, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn decided he had conspired to steal the documents, and Eli Lilly threatened Mr. Gottstein with criminal contempt charges. In The Zyprexa Papers, Mr. Gottstein gives a riveting first-hand account of what really happened, including new details about how a small group of psychiatric survivors spread the Zyprexa Papers on the Internet untraceably. All of this within a gripping, plain-language explanation of complex legal maneuvering and his battles on behalf of Bill Bigley, the psychiatric patient whose ordeal made possible the exposure of the Zyprexa Papers. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Dante's Cure Daniel Dorman, 2003 As much the story of a young doctor finding his own path in a controversial new world of anti-psychotic drugs, this is the true account of a successful therapeutic process that took place six days a week, for seven years. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Critical Psychiatry Sandra Steingard, 2018-12-24 This book is a guide for psychiatrists struggling to incorporate transformational strategies into their clinical work. The book begins with an overview of the concept of critical psychiatry before focusing its analytic lens on the DSM diagnostic system, the influence of the pharmaceutical industry, the crucial distinction between drug-centered and disease-centered approaches to pharmacotherapy, the concept of “de-prescribing,” coercion in psychiatric practice, and a range of other issues that constitute the targets of contemporary critiques of psychiatric theory and practice. Written by experts in each topic, this is the first book to explicate what has come to be called critical psychiatry from an unbiased and clinically relevant perspective. Critical Psychiatry is an excellent, practical resource for clinicians seeking a solid foundation in the contemporary controversies within the field. General and forensic psychiatrists; family physicians, internists, and pediatricians who treat psychiatric patients; and mental health clinicians outside of medicine will all benefit from its conceptual insights and concrete advice. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Cracked James Davies, 2021-11-15 A “thought-provoking” look at the psychiatric profession, the overprescribing of pharmaceuticals, and the cost to patients’ health (Booklist). In an effort to enlighten a new generation about its growing reliance on psychiatry, this illuminating volume investigates why psychiatry has become the fastest-growing medical field in history; why psychiatric drugs are now more widely prescribed than ever before; and why psychiatry, without solid scientific justification, keeps expanding the number of mental disorders it believes to exist.This revealing volume shows that these issues can be explained by one startling fact: in recent decades psychiatry has become so motivated by power that it has put the pursuit of pharmaceutical riches above its patients'''' wellbeing. Readers will be shocked and dismayed to discover that psychiatry, in the name of helping others, has actually been helping itself.In a style reminiscent of Ben Goldacre''''s Bad Science and investigative in tone, James Davies reveals psychiatry’s hidden failings and how the field of study must change if it is to ever win back its patients'''' trust. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Mind Fixers: Psychiatry's Troubled Search for the Biology of Mental Illness Anne Harrington, 2019-04-16 “Superb… a nuanced account of biological psychiatry.” —Richard J. McNally In Mind Fixers, “the preeminent historian of neuroscience” (Science magazine) Anne Harrington explores psychiatry’s repeatedly frustrated efforts to understand mental disorder. She shows that psychiatry’s waxing and waning theories have been shaped not just by developments in the clinic and lab, but also by a surprising range of social factors. Mind Fixers recounts the past and present struggle to make mental illness a biological problem in order to lay the groundwork for creating a better future. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Show Me All Your Scars Lee Gutkind, 2016-07-17 Every year, one in four American adults suffers from a diagnosable mental health disorder. In these true stories, writers and their loved ones struggle as their worlds are upended. What do you do when your father kills himself, or your mother is committed to a psych ward, or your daughter starts hearing voices telling her to harm herself—or when you yourself hear such voices? Addressing bipolar disorder, OCD, trichillomania, self-harm, PTSD, and other diagnoses, these stories vividly depict the difficulties and sorrows—and sometimes, too, the unexpected and surprising rewards—of living with mental illness. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Invisible Plague Edwin Fuller Torrey, Judy Miller, 2001 Examines the records on insanity in England, Ireland, Canada, and the United States over a 250-year period, concluding, through quantitative and qualitative evidence, that insanity is an unrecognized, modern-day plague. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Postpsychiatry Patrick J. Bracken, Philip Thomas, 2005-12-22 For most of us the words madness and psychosis conjure up fear and images of violence. Using short stories, the authors consider complex philosphical issues from a fresh perspective. The current debates about mental health policy and practice are placed into their historical and cultural contexts. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Lives They Left Behind Darby Penney, 2010-02 More than four hundred abandoned suitcases filled with patients' belongings were found when Willard Psychiatric Center closed in 1995 after 125 years of operation. In this fully-illustrated social history, they are skillfully examined and compared to the written record to create a moving-and devastating-group portrait of twentieth-century American psychiatric care. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Pharmageddon David Healy, 2013-04 This searing indictment, David Healy’s most comprehensive and forceful argument against the pharmaceuticalization of medicine, tackles problems in health care that are leading to a growing number of deaths and disabilities. Healy, who was the first to draw attention to the now well-publicized suicide-inducing side effects of many anti-depressants, attributes our current state of affairs to three key factors: product rather than process patents on drugs, the classification of certain drugs as prescription-only, and industry-controlled drug trials. These developments have tied the survival of pharmaceutical companies to the development of blockbuster drugs, so that they must overhype benefits and deny real hazards. Healy further explains why these trends have basically ended the possibility of universal health care in the United States and elsewhere around the world. He concludes with suggestions for reform of our currently corrupted evidence-based medical system. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream Carl Elliott, 2004-06-17 Elliott's absorbing account will make readers think again about the ways that science shapes our personal identities.—American Scientist Americans have always been the world's most anxiously enthusiastic consumers of enhancement technologies. Prozac, Viagra, and Botox injections are only the latest manifestations of a familiar pattern: enthusiastic adoption, public hand-wringing, an occasional congressional hearing, and calls for self-reliance. In a brilliant diagnosis of our reactions to self-improvement technologies, Carl Elliott asks questions that illuminate deep currents in the American character: Why do we feel uneasy about these drugs, procedures, and therapies even while we embrace them? Where do we draw the line between self and society? Why do we seek self-realization in ways so heavily influenced by cultural conformity? |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Antidepressant Era David Healy, 1997 In this work Healy chronicles the history of psychopharmacology, from the discovery of chlorpromazine in 1951, to current battles over whether powerful chemical compounds should replace psychotherapy. The marketing of antidepressants is included. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Shame of the States Albert Deutsch, 1948 Expose on the deplorable conditions in state mental hospitals, including overcrowding, understaffing, inadequate budgets, lack of adequate treatment facilities, etc. It consists mostly of pieces written for the New York newspaper PM and its successor the Star, as well as some less journalistic content, written from 1940-1948. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Desperate Remedies Andrew Scull, 2022-05-17 A Telegraph Book of the Year A Washington Post Notable Work A Times Book of the Year A Hughes Award Finalist “An indisputable masterpiece...comprehensive, fascinating, and persuasive.” —Wall Street Journal “Brimming with wisdom and brio, this masterful work spans the history of psychiatry. Exceedingly well-researched, wide-ranging, provocative in its conclusions, and magically compact, it is riveting from start to finish. Mark my words, Desperate Remedies will soon be a classic.” —Susannah Cahalan, author of Brain on Fire “Compulsively readable...Scull has joined his wide-ranging reporting and research with a humane perspective on matters that many of us continue to look away from.” —Daphne Merkin, The Atlantic Scull's fascinating and enraging book is the story of the quacks and opportunists who have claimed to offer cures for mental illness...Madness remains the most fascinating—arguably the defining—aspect of Homo sapiens. —Sebastian Faulks, Sunday Times “I would recommend this fascinating, alarming, and alerting book to anybody. For anyone referred to a psychiatrist it is surely essential.” —The Spectator For more than two hundred years disturbances of the mind have been studied and treated by the medical profession. Mental illness, some insist, is a disease like any other, from which one can be cured. But is this true? From the birth of the asylum to the latest drug trials, Desperate Remedies brings together a galaxy of mind doctors working in and out of institutional settings: psychologists and psychoanalysts, neuroscientists and cognitive behavioral therapists, as well as patients and their families desperate for relief. Surprising, disturbing, and compelling, this passionate account of America’s long battle with mental illness challenges us to revisit some of our deepest assumptions and to confront the epidemic of mental illness so visible all around us. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Let Them Eat Prozac David Healy, 2006-10 A psychiatrist provides an insider account on the controversial use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) Prozac. Paxil. Zoloft. Turn on your television and you are likely to see a commercial for one of the many selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) on the market. We hear a lot about them, but do we really understand how these drugs work and what risks are involved for anyone who uses them? Let Them Eat Prozac explores the history of SSRIs—from their early development to their latest marketing campaigns—and the controversies that surround them. Initially, they seemed like wonder drugs for those with mild to moderate depression. When Prozac was released in the late 1980s, David Healy was among the psychiatrists who prescribed it. But he soon observed that some of these patients became agitated and even attempted suicide. Could the new wonder drug actually be making patients worse? Healy draws on his own research and expertise to demonstrate the potential hazards associated with these drugs. He intersperses case histories with insider accounts of the research leading to the development and approval of SSRIs as a treatment for depression. Let Them Eat Prozac clearly demonstrates that the problems go much deeper than a side-effect of a particular drug. The pharmaceutical industry would like us to believe that SSRIs can safely treat depression, anxiety, and a host of other mental problems. But, as Let Them Eat Prozac reveals, this “cure” may be worse than the disease. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Overtreated Shannon Brownlee, 2010-06-25 Our health care is staggeringly expensive, yet one in six Americans has no health insurance. We have some of the most skilled physicians in the world, yet one hundred thousand patients die each year from medical errors. In this gripping, eye-opening book, award-winning journalist Shannon Brownlee takes readers inside the hospital to dismantle some of our most venerated myths about American medicine. Brownlee dissects what she calls the medical-industrial complex and lays bare the backward economic incentives embedded in our system, revealing a stunning portrait of the care we now receive. Nevertheless, Overtreated ultimately conveys a message of hope by reframing the debate over health care reform. It offers a way to control costs and cover the uninsured, while simultaneously improving the quality of American medicine. Shannon Brownlee's humane, intelligent, and penetrating analysis empowers readers to avoid the perils of overtreatment, as well as pointing the way to better health care for everyone. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Anatomy of an Epidemic : Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America , 2010 Updated with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with new research, this New York Times bestseller is essential reading for a time when mental health is constantly in the news. In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Interwoven with Whitaker's groundbreaking analysis of the merits of psychiatric medications are the personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic. As Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, other societies have begun to alter their use of psychiatric medications and are now reporting much improved outcomes . . . so why can't such change happen here in the United States? Why have the results from these long-term studies--all of which point to the same startling conclusion--been kept from the public? Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of disabling mental illness, and yet, as Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals, the medical blueprints for curbing that epidemic have already been drawn up. Praise for Anatomy of an Epidemic The timing of Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic, a comprehensive and highly readable history of psychiatry in the United States, couldn't be better.--Salon Anatomy of an Epidemic offers some answers, charting controversial ground with mystery-novel pacing.--TIME Lucid, pointed and important, Anatomy of an Epidemic should be required reading for anyone considering extended use of psychiatric medicine. Whitaker is at the height of his powers. --Greg Critser, author of Generation Rx. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Stolen Voices Zlata Filipovic, Melanie Challenger, 2006-12-26 From the author of the international bestseller Zlata’s Diary comes a haunting testament to how war’s brutality affects the lives of young people Zlata Filipovic’s diary of her harrowing war experiences in the Balkans, published in 1993, made her a globally recognized spokesperson for children affected by military conflict. In Stolen Voices, she and co-editor Melanie Challenger have gathered fifteen diaries of young people coping with war, from World War I to the struggle in Iraq that continues today. Profoundly affecting testimonies of shattered youth and the gritty particulars of war in the tradition of Anne Frank, this extraordinary collection— the first of its kind—is sure to leave a lasting impression on young and old readers alike. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: A Straight Talking Introduction to Psychiatric Drugs Joanna Moncrieff, 2020-09-24 In an era when more people are taking psychiatric drugs than ever before, Joanna Moncrieff's explosive book challenges the claims for their mythical powers. Drawing on extensive research, she demonstrates that psychiatric drugs do not 'treat' or 'cure' mental illness by acting on hypothesised chemical imbalances or other abnormalities in the brain. There is no evidence for any of these ideas. Moreover, any relief the drugs may offer from the distress and disturbance of a mental disorder can come at great cost to people's physical health and their ability to function in day-to-day life. And, once on these drugs, coming off them can be very difficult indeed. This book is a wake-up call to the potential damage we are doing to ourselves by relying on chemical cures for human distress. Its clear, concise explanations will enable people to make a fully informed decision about the benefits and harms of these drugs and whether and how to come off them if they so choose. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Own Your Self Kelly Brogan, M.D., 2022-01-11 New York Times best-selling author presents a radical alternative to psychotropic meds: discerning the meaning in your symptoms and your struggle as a way to reclaim your health and your self. For years, we've been telling ourselves that our difficult feelings-sadness, rage, shame, intensity, worry-are somehow not okay. And, all too often, we've relied on the promise of pharmaceuticals to tamp them down. The fact is, though, that these feelings are a vital part of our experience. They are real. And those of us who feel them most strongly are the canaries in the coalmine-sensitive to things that are seriously wrong in the world today. In a book that's both provocative and promising, holistic psychiatrist Kelly Brogan, M.D., author of A Mind of Your Own, shows us that we don't have to medicate our mental, emotional, and physical pain away-that the best way out is through. She explodes the mistaken belief that our symptoms-from mood changes to irritability to fogginess and fatigue-are evidence that we are sick or broken. Then she charts a new path to get real, get well, and get free. The journey includes: • Coming to a new appreciation of the meaning behind symptoms, and whether you are a canary in the coal mine • Learning the 2 major risks of medication that most doctors are not trained to disclose • Exploring the 5 reversible physical drivers of so-called mental illness • Starting the process of radical physical healing with inclusive details of Dr. Brogan's history-making 30-day protocol • Taking an emotional inventory of energy drains and toxic relationships • Taking a deeper dive into the spiritual awakening and expansion that comes when you reclaim your real self from conventional medicine • Identifying the most likely places you have given your power away • Understanding what the science has to say about psychedelics as a tool for awakening • Navigating health challenges with curiosity and the proper tools • Guidance, support, and many Travel Tips shared from the trenches! Our experiences, Dr. Brogan argues, aren't problems or pathologies; they reflect what we need to accept, acknowledge, and transform in order to truly become who we are. Own Your Self is a journey of healing, and also something more: a journey of coming home to ourselves. |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: Listening to Prozac Peter D. Kramer, 1997-09-01 The New York Times bestselling examination of the revolutionary antidepressant, with a new introduction and afterword reflecting on Prozac’s legacy and the latest medical research “Peter Kramer is an analyst of exceptional sensitivity and insight. To read his prose on virtually any subject is to be provoked, enthralled, illuminated.” —Joyce Carol Oates When antidepressants like Prozac first became available, Peter D. Kramer prescribed them, only to hear patients say that on medication, they felt different—less ill at ease, more like the person they had always imagined themselves to be. Referencing disciplines from cellular biology to animal ethology, Dr. Kramer worked to explain these reports. The result was Listening to Prozac, a revolutionary book that offered new perspectives on antidepressants, mood disorders, and our understanding of the self—and that became an instant national and international bestseller. In this thirtieth anniversary edition, Dr. Kramer looks back at the influence of his groundbreaking book, traces progress in the relevant sciences, follows trends in the use and public understanding of antidepressants, and assesses potential breakthroughs in the treatment of depression. The new introduction and afterword reinforce and reinvigorate a book that the New York Times called “originally insightful” and “intelligent and informative,” a window on a medicine that is “telling us new things about the chemistry of human character.” |
| anatomy of an epidemic by robert whitaker: The Secret History of the War on Cancer Devra Davis, 2009-02-24 From the National Book Award finalist and author of When Smoke Ran Like Water comes this searing, haunting, and deeply personal account of how a major public health effort was diverted and distorted for private gain. |
Anatomy of an Epidemic | Robert Whitaker Books
Anatomy of an Epidemic investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of adults and children disabled by mental illness skyrocketed over the …
Anatomy of an Epidemic - Wikipedia
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America is a book by Robert Whitaker published …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric D…
In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Dru…
13 Apr 2010 · Buy Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America 1 by …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Dru…
13 Apr 2010 · Anatomy of an Epidemic gives facts and figures on the astonishing rise in social security disability cases due to mental illness. …
Anatomy of an Epidemic | Robert Whitaker Books
Anatomy of an Epidemic investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of adults and children disabled by mental illness skyrocketed over the past fifty years?
Anatomy of an Epidemic - Wikipedia
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America is a book by Robert Whitaker published in 2010 by Crown. [1][2][3] Whitaker …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and …
In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and …
13 Apr 2010 · Buy Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America 1 by Whitaker, Robert (ISBN: 9780307452412) from …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drug…
13 Apr 2010 · Anatomy of an Epidemic gives facts and figures on the astonishing rise in social security disability cases due to mental illness. Whitaker makes a comparison between the …
Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker | Waterstones
2 Aug 2011 · Anatomy of an Epidemic explores these unsettling developments in the manner of a narrative mystery, piecing together fifty years of science and drug history to reveal how the …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and …
2 Aug 2011 · In Anatomy of an Epidemic investigative reporter Robert Whitaker cuts through flawed science, greed and outright lies to reveal that the drugs hailed as the cure for mental …
Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker: 9780307452429 ...
In Anatomy of an Epidemic investigative reporter Robert Whitaker cuts through flawed science, greed and outright lies to reveal that the drugs hailed as the cure for mental disorders instead …
Anatomy of an Epidemic - Google Books
13 Apr 2010 · In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill …
Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and …
2 Aug 2011 · In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill …
