Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease - Softcover

Gary Greenberg

3.71

461 ratings by Goodreads

9781408800973: Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1408800977 ISBN 13: 9781408800973

Publisher: Bloomsbury UK, 2011

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According to the Office of National Statistics, depression occurs in 1 in 10 adults in Britain at any one time. But what constitutes depression? And what role have the pharmaceutical companies played in creating an idea of depression that turns human beings into neurochemical machines? Where does that leave the human spirit? Do we ask and expect too much of science, rather than accepting that there are important matters about which we may always be unsure? Could this lack of certainty be at the heart of what it means to be human? In his fascinating account of the close relationship between psychiatric diagnosis and the pharmaceutical industries, Gary Greenberg uses his personal experience over a two-year exposure to drug testing and different therapies for depression, backed up by twenty years of professional practice as a psychotherapist, to answer these questions and unravel the 'Secret History of a Modern Disease'.

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About the Author:

Gary Greenberg has a doctorate in psychology and has been a practising psychotherapist for more than twenty years. He is the author of The Self on the Shelf: Recovery Books and the Good Life and major articles for McSweeney's, The New Yorker and Harpers. He lives in Connecticut.

Review:

PRAISE FOR 'THE NOBLE LIE' 'Impressive and fascinating round-up' * New Scientist * 'What is an illness? What is good health? What, for that matter, is medical science really for? Greenberg will make you think about these questions in ways that I'm willing to bet you haven't. Along the way, he will enlighten and amuse and provoke you in equal measure. A wonderful book from a terrific writer.' * William Finnegan, author of Cold New World: Growing Up in a Harder Country *

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