The Antidepressant Fact Book What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, And Luvox

by Breggin, Peter

• ISBN13: 9780738204512
• ISBN10: 073820451X
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-07-12
• Publisher: Balance

Summary

Known as "the Ralph Nader of psychiatry," Dr. Peter Breggin has been the medical expert in countless court cases involving the use or misuse of psychoactive medications. This unusual position has given him unprecedented access to private pharmaceutical research and correspondence files, information from which informs this straight-talking guide to the most prescribed and controversial category of American drugs: antidepressants. From how these drugs work in the brain to how they treat (or don't treat) depression and obsessive-compulsive, panic, and other disorders; from the documented side and withdrawal effects to what every parent needs to know about antidepressants and teenagers, The Anti-Depressant Fact Book is up-to-the minute and easy-to-access. Hard-hitting and enlightening, every current, former, and prospective antidepressant-user will want to read this book.

Author Biography

Peter R. Breggin, M.D., is the author of a dozen books, including Talking Back to Prozac and The Antidepressant Factbook. He lives in Ithaca, New York.

Table of Contents

A Reader Alert	xiv
Acknowledgments	xvi
Introduction Drug Facts You Cannot Get Anywhere Else	1	(1)
Too Little Skepticism	2	(1)
Unique Sources of Information	3	(1)
Getting Inside the Drug Companies	4	(2)
Hiding the Facts	6	(1)
Quietly Settling the Cases	7	(2)
ONE The Meaning and Purpose of Depression	9	(18)
The Most Common Causes of Depressed Feelings	10	(1)
Mired Down in Depressed Feelings	11	(1)
The Special Vulnerability of Depressed Children	12	(1)
When Nothing Helps	13	(1)
Not a Disease	14	(1)
Even Whole Cultures	15	(1)
Depression Occurs in a Context	16	(1)
Selling ``Depression'' as a Disease	17	(1)
The ``Official'' Definition of Depression and Antidepressant	18	(2)
Unanswered Questions	20	(7)
TWO Damaging the Brain with SSRI Antidepressants	27	(16)
The Myth That Millions of Users Are Living Proof of a Drug's Safety	29	(1)
Closely Related Drugs	29	(1)
How SSRIs Work	30	(1)
The Nature of Serotonin	30	(1)
Limits of the Serotonin Theory	31	(1)
The Complexity of the Serotonin System	31	(1)
Disrupting the Serotonin System	32	(2)
The Brain Fights Back	34	(1)
Evidence for Permanent Damage and Dysfunction from SSRIs	35	(1)
More Evidence for SSRI-Induced Brain Damage	36	(2)
Drug Company Responses to the Danger of Permanent Damage	38	(1)
Looking for the Critical Research	39	(2)
Anticipating the Nature of Permanent Dysfunction	41	(2)
THREE Dangerously Stimulating the Brain and Mind with Antidepressants	43	(19)
No Scientific Doubt	45	(1)
All of the SSRIs	45	(1)
The Stimulant Profile	46	(1)
Causing Mania	47	(3)
Burying the Mania Threat	50	(2)
Hiding the Truth from the Beginning	52	(1)
Deciding to Cover Up the Stimulating Effects	53	(2)
Dissent Within the FDA	55	(1)
Summing Up the Stimulant Pattern	56	(2)
The Insidious Danger of Akathisia	58	(1)
Variability in Patient Reactions	59	(3)
FOUR Multiple Additional Risks When Taking SSRI Antidepressants	62	(10)
Lemonade out of Lemons	62	(2)
Common Adverse Reactions in the Body	64	(1)
Cardiovascular and Bleeding Problems	64	(2)
More Prozac Problems	66	(1)
Extrapyramidal Reactions and Tardive Dyskinesia	67	(2)
Fertility, Pregnancy, and Nursing	69	(1)
Pituitary Gland Dysfunction	70	(1)
Throughout the Body	71	(1)
FIVE How SSRI Antidepressants Can Ruin Love and Family Life	72	(5)
Impairing Our Self-Perception	74	(1)
Love and the Brain	74	(1)
The Mechanism of SSRI Sexual Dysfunction	75	(1)
SSRI Indifference	76	(1)
SIX Depression and Suicide Caused by Antidepressants	77	(16)
The FDA Knew from the Beginning	79	(1)
Learning from Science and Clinical Experience	80	(1)
Many Drugs Cause Depression	81	(1)
Antidepressants, Mania, and Depression	82	(1)
Prozac-Induced Suicide	83	(2)
More Evidence from Drug Company Data Confirming Antidepressant-Induced Suicide	85	(1)
The ``Smoking Gun''	86	(1)
Driving Patients to Suicide with Akathisia	87	(1)
Additional Reports Confirming Antidepressant-Induced Suicidality	88	(1)
Seeking a Suicide-Free Prozac	89	(1)
Making People More Depressed with Antidepressants	90	(1)
The Mechanism of Causing Depression and Suicide	91	(1)
Antidepressants Do Not Prevent Suicide	92	(1)
SEVEN Criminal Behavior and Violence Caused by Antidepressants	93	(14)
Playing at Being ``The Saint''	93	(3)
Taking Care of the Dog	96	(2)
Ending in Physical Violence	98	(2)
A Natural Desire to Hold People Responsible	100	(1)
Antidepressants, Mania, and Violence	101	(1)
The Danger of Agitated Depression	102	(1)
FDA Recognition of Drug-Induced Violence	103	(1)
Drug Mechanisms for Causing Violence	104	(1)
Epidemiological Evidence from the FDA	105	(2)
EIGHT Dangerous Drug Interactions and a Genetic Vulnerability to Severe SSRI Toxicity	107	(5)
The Serotonin Syndrome: Much too Much of a Supposedly Good Thing	107	(1)
More than the Liver Can Handle	108	(1)
A Missing Enzyme in the Liver	109	(1)
More than the Plasma Proteins Can Contain	110	(2)
NINE Special Dangers of Treating Children with SSRIs	112	(11)
Growing Numbers of Children on SSRIs	113	(1)
Hazards to the Child's Brain	113	(1)
The Vulnerability of Children to Adverse Reactions	114	(1)
Confusing the Issue of Drug-Induced Mania in Children	115	(1)
SSRIs and School Shooters	116	(1)
Scientific Reports Linking to SSRIs for Children	117	(2)
Allowing the Prescription of Unauthorized Drugs to Children	119	(1)
Evidence for the Usefulness of SSRIs for Children	120	(1)
A Situation Entirely Out of Control	120	(1)
Forcing Parents to Drug Their Children	121	(2)
TEN Withdrawal Problems When Stopping Antidepressants	123	(11)
How Drugs Cause Withdrawal Reactions	123	(1)
An Example from a Non-Prescription Drug	124	(1)
Lack of Physician Awareness	124	(1)
Rebound Versus Withdrawal	125	(1)
Interdose Withdrawal	126	(1)
Withdrawal from the Older ``Tricyclic'' Antidepressants	126	(1)
SSRI Withdrawal Symptoms	127	(1)
The Most Common SSRI Withdrawal Problems	127	(1)
The Most Dangerous SSRI Withdrawal Reactions	128	(1)
Differences in Withdrawal Reactions Among SSRIs	128	(2)
The Danger of Irreversible Withdrawal Reactions	130	(1)
Anticipating How you Might React to Withdrawal	130	(1)
How to Handle Withdrawal from SSRIs	131	(1)
Ten Principles for Withdrawing from Psychiatric Drugs	131	(3)
ELEVEN Physical Conditions That Cause or Worsen Depression	134	(10)
The Elusive Biochemical Imbalance	135	(1)
Physical Disorders That Can Cause Depression	136	(1)
Medications as the Casue of Depressed Feelings	137	(1)
Psychiatric Drugs Known to Cause or Worsen Depression	137	(2)
Some Recreational Drugs That Can Cause Depression	139	(1)
Medical Disorders That Commonly Cause Depression	139	(3)
The Importance of a Good Medical Evaluation	142	(1)
Diet and Depression	142	(2)
TWELVE No Such Thing As an Antidepressant	144	(9)
Reviewing All the Recent FDA Studies	144	(1)
Drug Company Tricks	145	(1)
More Evidence That Antidepressants Do Not Work	146	(1)
Growing Recognition of Drug Company Influencae	147	(1)
The Myth That Drugs Are Tested on Thousands of People Before They Are Approved	148	(1)
The Myth That Millions of Users Are Living Proof of a Drug's Efficacy	148	(1)
SSRIs as Panacea	149	(2)
The Limits of FDA Approval	151	(2)
THIRTEEN From Lobotomy to Electroshock and Brain Stimulation	153	(15)
Stopping Psychosurgery on Little Children	155	(1)
Taking on the Harvard Surgeons	156	(1)
Deep Brain Stimulation	157	(1)
Causing Insanity	158	(1)
Trying to Stop Shock Treatment	159	(1)
Electrical Closed-Head Injury	159	(1)
The Targets of Shock Treatment	160	(1)
Failing to Tell the Truth	160	(1)
Scientific Evidence for Brain Damage and Dysfunction from Shock	161	(2)
The Promotional Campaign for Shock Treatment	163	(1)
ECT for Suicide Prevention	164	(1)
Committing Violence Under the Influence of Shock Treatment	164	(1)
What Should Be Done About Shock Treatment?	165	(1)
Transcranial Stimulation	166	(1)
Light Therapy	166	(1)
Your Doctor's Condition	167	(1)
FOURTEEN The Safety and Efficacy of Natural Remedies	168	(5)
The Usefulness of Some ``Alternative'' Treatments	169	(1)
St. John's Wort	169	(2)
Other Remedies	171	(2)
FIFTEEN How Drug Companies Can Deceive the Courts, the Medical Profession, and the Public	173	(9)
Caught in the Middle of a Fix	175	(1)
Withholding Evidence from Their Own Expert	175	(1)
The Testimony	175	(2)
The Jury Verdict	177	(1)
The Final Outcome	177	(1)
My Own Reactions	178	(1)
The Growing Impact of Drug Companies	179	(1)
The Role of the Federal Government	180	(2)
SIXTEEN How to Overcome Depression: Suggestions for Patients and Therapists Alike	182	(19)
The Moral Context of Therapy	183	(1)
Drugs Versus Therapy and Life	184	(1)
Psychotherapy for Depression	185	(1)
What to Expect from the Therapy Relationship	186	(1)
The Effect of Depressing Personal Relationships	187	(1)
The Effect of Depressing Therapy Relationships	188	(2)
Identifying Depressing Relationships	190	(1)
Helping Very Depressed People	191	(1)
Welcoming the Depressed Feelings	192	(2)
Dealing with Emotional Emergencies	194	(1)
Expressing My Views on Drugs to Patients	195	(1)
A Few Words for Therapists	196	(1)
The Importance of Limiting the Therapy Relationship	196	(1)
Love Is Not Enough	197	(1)
The Importance of Relationship	198	(1)
The Challenge of Being and Ethical Person and Therapist	199	(1)
Doctors Who Practice Drug-Free Therapy	200	(1)
Appendix A: The International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology	201	(2)
Appendix B: Ethical Human Sciences and Services	203	(2)
Notes	205	(6)
Bibliography	211	(7)
Index	218	(8)
About the Author	226