Product Description

One of America's most controversial writers in the field, Breggin, writes about the uses and abuses of electroconvulsive therapy and drug therapy in the USA, where such things are used as cure-alls. He details the success of "talking therapy", and other psychosocial interventions in helping people diagnosed by psychiatrists as schizophrenic, depressed, panic disordered, hyperactive, and learning disabled, and documents how many of these conditions can be healed through love, guidance, empathy, family therapy, rehabilitation and the teaching of coping skills. And how psychiatry, motivated by power and money, increasingly favours chemical and mechanistic interventions.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #58599 in Books
• Published on: 1993-03-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 480 pages

Customer Reviews

Reveals the myths of modern psychiatry
This is an excellent book it bravely stands up to the overwhelming propoganda of modern psychiatry, Breggin presents compelling evidence for his arguments against the "toxic" treatments inflicted on those unfortunate enough to come into contact with the psychiatric establishment.

I particularly liked his critical approach to genetic theories of mental illness, these types of theories have received a lot of attention and popular support, indeed when I was a psychiatric nursing student we were led to believe that it was a fact that schizophrenia was a genetic illness, when in fact there is no proof to support this theory.

So few people question the claims of the psychiatric establishment, we live in an age when anti-depressants such as Seroxat ( a sister drug to Prozac) are being prescribed for the relief of shyness! Breggin makes the point that bio-chemical quick fixes, far from being the panacea for all our mental/emotional afflictions may in fact be exacerbating these conditions and leading on to further mental decline, and that these drugs do indeed represent a toxic threat to our minds and bodies. His plea for a more compassionate system of care, based on empathy and understanding should be heeded.

Confirms what my heart has been telling me for years
As a long term sufferer of mental illness, this book was like a light switch for me, explaining the long held feeling of powerlessness and invalidation I have experienced in being treated by psychiatrists and doctors. I had always wondered why it was that doctors would always dip straight into a drugs manual (normally published by a pharmaceutical company) to help me, when I was sitting there describing relationship and interpersonal difficulties. When their multiple antidepressant and anti-anxiety drug options did not work for me, they seemed to get irritated, sometimes angry. I was made to feel that I was making things up, being a hypchondriac. This meant I started to hide my feelings and symptoms even more. Then after finding a good, empathic therapist, I began to open up about the symptoms I have, stopped covering them up for fear of being made to feel a liar, and when I started to be honest it emerged that I have had a lifelong, serious mental illness, of PSYCHOSOCIAL origin, and that is known not to respond well to drug treatments, despite the list of neuroleptics, SSRI's and so on that are commonly given out for it despite poor results. I Am now getting the treatment I need, albeit privately - by pursung the NHS route I found myself caught ever deeper in a web of invalidation, sadness, frsutration and anger. Now that I have found an empathic therapist who listens to me and is brave enough to help me deal with my traumatic past, I am starting to heal. I have spoken with hundreds people in mental health forums who are experiencing the same sense of impotence, invalidation, self-blame and hopelessness in relying on psychiatry to help them, and who consistently begin to feel better when they find an empathic, understanding and courageous therapist to help them through their struggle. This book confirms and explains to me why, by placing my faith in doctors and psychiatrists for so long, I got progressivey iller and iller over a period of 9 years. Now I am off the drugs, I am experiencing emotions that have been locked away from me all my life. This book explains with clarity the political, commercial and sometimes (I am sad to say) arrogant factors that maintain psychiatry's dominance on mental health. I will say that some psychiatrists in the UK ARE showing signs of realising the importance of psychotherapy, and this is beginning to influence the way they treat patients. However, this is currently the exception and many will still reflect the illness-worsening attitudes that Breggin powerfully describes. If you are looking for answers in your personal life, wake up and smell the flowers and find a genuine path to healing - one that recognises that the human soul is not just a chemical reaction.

Dealing with Family Drug Abuse
I have been struggling with the effects of phychiatric drugs over the past several years with a niece on Ritalin, a brother on Prozac, and my father taking Thorazine. This book was a tremendous help in providing insight into the attitudes and motivations of the 'doctors' who have given my family members drug dependence as a 'solution' to their problems. I highly recommend it to anyone who has a loved one under the care of a physician who recommends psychiatric drugs.