Research Catalog

Title

Medication madness : a psychiatrist exposes the dangers of mood-altering medications / Peter R. Breggin.

Author

Breggin, Peter Roger, 1936-

Publication

New York : St. Martin's Press, c2008.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

x, 384 p.; 25 cm.

Summary

Medications for everything from depression and anxiety to ADHD and insomnia are being prescribed in alarming numbers across the country, but the "cure" is often worse than the original problem. The weight of scientific evidence and years of clinical experience eventually convinced psychiatrist Dr. Breggin that psychiatric drugs frequently cause individuals to lose their judgment and their ability to control their emotions and actions. Here he examines the issues surrounding personal responsibility when behavior seems driven by drug-induced adverse reactions and intoxication. This book is a frightening, dramatic look at the role that psychiatric medications have played in fifty cases of suicide, murder, and other violent, criminal, and bizarre behaviors. It serves as a cautionary tale about our reliance on potentially dangerous psychoactive chemicals to relieve our emotional problems and provides a positive approach to taking personal charge of our lives.--From publisher description.

Subject

• Suicide
• Mood Disorders > etiology
• Jurisprudence
• Homicide
• Psychotropic Drugs > adverse effects
• Psychotropic drugs > Side effects
• Brain > Effect of drugs on
• Forensic psychiatry > United States
• Liability for emotional distress > United States
• United States

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [361]-375) and index.

Contents

What is medication spellbinding? -- The toothless watchdog growls -- Killing the pain-and almost the cop -- The man with too many complaints -- Young girl murderers in the making -- Doctors driven mad by medications -- Killing loved ones to save the world -- Drug-induced "happy faces" -- Not quite twelve years old -- Sleeping pill madness -- Tranquilized into violence -- A courtroom Christmas story -- A vicious addiction -- He wanted to do better in school -- Spellbound by Ritalin addiction -- Parents forced to drug their children -- This is not my daughter -- Dilemmas in the role of the medical expert -- Drug companies on trial -- Marketing myths and the truth about psychiatric medication -- Spellbound by drug withdrawal reactions -- Making drug withdrawal as safe as possible -- The tough question of personal responsibility -- Choose your last resort wisely.

ISBN

• 9780312363383
• 0312363389

LCCN

^^2008001477

OCLC

• 156832369
• SCSB-10287456

Owning Institutions

Harvard Library