Manufacturing Depression: The Secret History of a Modern Disease

By Gary Greenberg

Has the antidepressant industry manufactured not only an illness but an idea of humanity that denies our full potential?

'Impressive and fascinating' New Scientist

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'.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing
• Release date: Oct 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781408852972

Gary Greenberg

Gary Greenberg is the author of the national bestseller The Pop-Up Book of Phobias, as well as The Pop-Up Book of Nightmares. He is also a nationally touring stand-up comedian, and has appeared on Comedy Central, Bravo, NPR, and USA Network, among others.

Reviews for Manufacturing Depression

[paul_s-289480 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I no longer know who is fooling who anymore. It's charlatans all around. Probably doesn't help that the author is writing with his mind made up from the start that only paying psychoanalysts like him a lot of money will cure you of depression which on one page is and on another isn't a disease.

[soraxtm-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Not only enlightening and educational but funny as hell!!!