This book exposes the traditional view that psychiatric drugs correct chemical imbalances as a dangerous fraud. It traces the emergence of this view and the way it supported the vested interests of the psychiatric profession, the pharmaceutical industry and the modern state. Instead it is proposed that psychiatric drugs 'work' by creating abnormal brain states, which are often unpleasant and impair normal intellectual and emotional functions along with other harmful consequences. Research on antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilisers is examined to demonstrate this thesis and it is suggested that acknowledging the real nature of psychiatric drugs would lead to a more democratic practice of psychiatry. Sample Chapter: http: //www.palgrave.com/PDFs/0230574319.Pdf

JOANNA MONCIREFF is Senior Lecturer in the Department of Mental Health Sciences at University College London, UK. She is co-founder of the Critical Psychiatry Network and writes critically about the use and misuse of psychiatric drug treatments, their history, and the influences that have promoted them.

List of Illustrations, Figures, Tables and Box	p. viii
Acknowledgements	p. ix
List of Abbreviations	p. x
Note on Nomenclature	p. xi
The Disease-Centred Model of Drug Action in Psychiatry	p. 1
An Alternative Drug-Centred Model of Drug Action	p. 14
Physical Treatments and the Disease-Centred Model	p. 26
The Arrival of the New Drugs and the Influence of Interest Groups	p. 41
The Birth of the Idea of an 'Antipsychotic'	p. 63
Are Neuroleptics Effective and Specific? A Review of the Evidence	p. 76
What Do Neuroleptics Really Do? A Drug-Centred Account	p. 100
The Construction of the 'Antidepressant'	p. 118
Is There Such a Thing as an 'Antidepressant'? A Review of the Evidence	p. 137
What Do Antidepressants Really Do?	p. 159
The Idea of Special Drugs for Manic Depression (Bipolar Disorder)	p. 174
Evidence on the Action of Lithium and 'Mood Stabilisers'	p. 187
Stimulant Drugs and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)	p. 204
Democratic Drug Treatment: Implications of the Drug-Centred Model	p. 224
The Myth of the Chemical Cure	p. 237
Notes	p. 245
References	p. 248
Index	p. 296
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

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