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    Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications
    Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications
    Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications
    Ebook685 pages9 hours

    Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications

    By Peter R. Breggin, M.D.

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    About this ebook

    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. Medication Madness is a fascinating, frightening, and dramatic look at the role that psychiatric medications have played in fifty cases of suicide, murder, and other violent, criminal, and bizarre behaviors.

    As a psychiatrist who believes in holding people responsible for their conduct, the weight of scientific evidence and years of clinical experience eventually convinced Dr. Breggin that psychiatric drugs frequently cause individuals to lose their judgment and their ability to control their emotions and actions. Medication Madness raises and examines the issues surrounding personal responsibility when behavior seems driven by drug-induced adverse reactions and intoxication.

    Dr. Breggin personally evaluated the cases in the book in his role as a treating psychiatrist, consultant or medical expert. He interviewed survivors and witnesses, and reviewed extensive medical, occupational, educational and police records. The great majority of individuals lived exemplary lives and committed no criminal or bizarre actions prior to taking the psychiatric medications.

    Medication Madness reads like a medical thriller, true crime story, and courtroom drama; but it is firmly based in the latest scientific research and dozens of case studies. The lives of the children and adults in these stories, as well as the lives of their families and their victims, were thrown into turmoil and sometimes destroyed by the unanticipated effects of psychiatric drugs. In some cases our entire society was transformed by the tragic outcomes.

    Many categories of psychiatric drugs can cause potentially horrendous reactions.

    Prozac, Paxil, Zoloft, Adderall, Ritalin, Concerta, Xanax, lithium, Zyprexa and other psychiatric medications may spellbind patients into believing they are improved when too often they are becoming worse. Psychiatric drugs drive some people into psychosis, mania, depression, suicide, agitation, compulsive violence and loss of self-control without the individuals realizing that their medications have deformed their way of thinking and feeling.

    This book documents how the FDA, the medical establishment and the pharmaceutical industry have over-sold the value of psychiatric drugs. 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.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMacmillan Publishers
    Release dateMay 26, 2009
    ISBN9781466823952
    Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications
    Author

    Peter R. Breggin, M.D.

    Peter R. Breggin, M.D., is a psychiatrist and expert in clinical psychopharmacology. A former teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School and full-time consultant at the National Institute of Mental Health, he has written dozens of scientific articles and more than twenty books, including the bestsellers Toxic Psychiatry and Talking Back to Prozac. He has served as a medical expert in criminal and civil cases involving psychiatric drugs, including product-liability suits against drug manufacturers. Dr. Breggin founded the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology, taught at universities, and is on the editorial boards of several scientific journals. He lives in the Finger Lakes region with his wife, Ginger, and practices psychiatry in Ithaca, New York.

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    • 1/5
      I used to respect Breggin's work He wrote evenhandedly about the disadvantages of psychiatric medication compared to psychotherapy and a better society. In this case, he has produced a diatribe. He gives the impression that these drugs can easily kill you and/or everyone around you. I suspect that he's also doing a little promotion of his career as an expert witness in trials involving crimes committed under the influence of these drugs, and lawsuits against drug companies. (This is fine, but his information should be balanced with common sense.)

    Book preview

    Medication Madness - Peter R. Breggin, M.D.

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