Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications - Softcover

Breggins, Peter Peter

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0738210986 ISBN 13: 9780738210988

Publisher: Balance, 2007

Synopsis

When first published in 1999, Your Drug May Be Your Problem was ahead of its time. The only book to provide an uncensored description of the dangers involved in taking every kind of psychiatric medication, it was also the first and only book to explain how to safely stop taking them. In the time elapsed, there have been numerous studies suggesting or proving the dangers of some psychiatric medications and even the FDA now acknowledges the problems; more studies are under way to determine their long-term and withdrawal effects. In the meantime, this book continues to be ever relevant and helpful. Fully updated to include study results and new medications that have come to market, Your Drug May Be Your Problem will help countless readers exert control over their own psychiatric treatment.

About this title

Review

Psychiatric drugs are prescribed to more than 20 million Americans. This book aims to convince us to stop taking these drugs, and to show us how to do it safely. The authors contend that after 15 minutes with a physician or psychiatrist, Americans are prescribed medications that we may take for years or a lifetime, which can do more harm than good. We're irritable, anxious, emotionally numbed, physically fatigued, and mentally dulled. Yet when we stop taking the drugs, we encounter a whole new set of problems and setbacks.

The book lists the adverse medical reactions you may encounter, plus additional personal, psychological, and philosophical reasons for limiting or rejecting psychiatric drugs. About half the book covers withdrawing from your drug--how to do it carefully and slowly, what to expect, and how to get help--with specifics for certain drugs and a chapter on easing your child off them as well.

If you suffer from depression or another condition that warrants taking prescription drugs, you might refute the authors' contention that "the degree to which we suffer indicates the degree to which we are alive. When we take drugs to ease our suffering, we stifle our psychological and spiritual life." Certainly it would be lovely if we could "find a way to untangle that twisted energy and to redirect it more creatively," but is this really possible in all cases? The authors blame our dependence on drugs and psychiatry on big pharmaceutical-company bucks, psychiatric organizations, and even government agencies. Certainly we are an overmedicated society--but is the answer to take everyone off drugs? This provocative book says yes, and it's bound to be controversial.

Of course, do not go off any prescribed medication without working closely with the medical professional who prescribed it, and do not use this book as a substitute for professional help. --Joan Price

About the Author

Peter R. Breggin, M.D., is the author of a dozen books, including Talking Back to Prozac and The Antidepressant Factbook. He lives in Ithaca, New York. David Cohen, Ph.D., is a professor of social work at Florida International University. He lives in Miami Beach, Florida.

Edition details

• Publisher: Balance
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0738210986
• ISBN 13: 9780738210988
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 335