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by
Joseph Glenmullen
Editorial Review by Amazon.com
It
seems like it was just yesterday that Prozac was a miracle pill, a medication
that could not only make sick people well, but "better than well."
By the end of the 1990s, Prozac and similar drugs -- Paxil, Zoloft, and
others -- were being prescribed for everything from depression to anxiety
to drug addiction to ADD. About 70 percent of prescriptions for these
antidepressants were being written by family physicians, rather than psychiatrists.
Dr. Joseph Glenmullen, a psychiatrist who has a private
practice and also works for Harvard University Health Services, sees this
antidepressant mania as dangerous, even reckless. He notes that these
drugs can have severe side effects, including uncontrollable facial and
body tics, which could be signs of severe and permanent brain damage.
About 50 percent of patients suffer often-debilitating withdrawal symptoms
from them, and about 60 percent end up with sexual dysfunction. And Prozac
may make a small number of people homicidal or suicidal, or both.
But there are alternatives: in Germany, for example,
St. John's wort outsells Prozac 25 to 1, showing that doctors and patients
there understand that the herbal remedy works as well as the synthetic
ones for mild to moderate depression. [Editor's note: St. John's wort
has been shown to interfere with the actions of the transplant rejection
drug cyclosporin and the AIDS drug indinivir.] And diet, exercise, 12-step
programs, and good old-fashioned psychotherapy can work well, too. Even
for severe depression requiring medication, Dr. Glenmullen shows how the
drugs can be used with other treatments and then discontinued after a
year or less.
Moreover, Prozac Backlash discusses exactly what depression
is and isn't; Dr. Glenmullen reviews hundreds of scientific studies, and
discusses numerous case studies from his practice and others. Because
of that detail, medical professionals may be this book's most likely readers,
but anyone who has been on an antidepressant, or is close to someone who
is, will also want to give Prozac Backlash a careful read. The brain you
save could be your own. -- Lou Schuler
Roughly 28 million Americans -- one in every ten
-- have taken Prozac, Zoloft, or Paxil or a similar antidepressant, yet
very few patients are aware of the dangers of these drugs, nor are they
aware that better, safer alternatives exist. Now Harvard Medical School's
Dr. Joseph Glenmullen documents the ominous long-term side effects associated
with these and other serotonin-boosting medications.
These side effects include neurological disorders,
such as disfiguring facial and whole-body tics that can indicate brain
damage; sexual dysfunction in up to 60 percent of users; debilitating
withdrawal symptoms, including visual hallucinations, electric shock-like
sensations in the brain, dizziness, nausea, and anxiety; and a decrease
of antidepressant effectiveness in about 35 percent of long-term users.
In addition, Dr. Glenmullen's research and riveting case studies shed
shocking new light on the direct link between these drugs and suicide
and violence.
Prozac Backlash provides authoritative, balanced information
on the efficacy of these drugs, explaining how they react chemically in
the body, when they should and should not be prescribed, and what risks
they present. Equally important, the book informs readers of the many
safe, effective alternatives to using such drugs -- alternatives that
can restore your spirits, keep your weight down, and make your sex life
as vital as ever.
Dr. Glenmullen argues that antidepressant drug therapy
is justified only in moderate to severe cases -- no more than 25 percent
of patients currently taking these drugs -- and that we should avoid patients'
exposure to these drugs whenever possible. The dangerous side effects,
he points out, are caused by Prozac backlash, which is the brain's reaction
to artificially elevated levels of serotonin.
Using vivid real-life stories from his work at Harvard,
his private practice, and the latest medical research, Dr. Glenmullen
explains the real role of serotonin in depression and challenges the popular,
hypothetical notion of a "serotonin deficiency" allegedly corrected
by the drugs. He relates the research history of Prozac and similar drugs,
and includes disturbing facts about the influence of drug companies and
HMOs on media representation of that research.
Prozac Backlash offers new hope to millions with effective
alternative treatments, including psychotherapy, cognitive-behavioral
treatment, herbal remedies like St. John's wort, family therapy, and twelve-step
programs. Dr. Glenmullen shows how these alternatives work not only for
depression but for a wide range of problems, such as anxiety, phobias,
obsessions, compulsions, sexual addictions, drug and alcohol abuse, and
eating disorders. He also provides countless examples of the successful
application of these treatments where drug exposure has been reduced or
eliminated altogether.
Written by a doctor with impeccable credentials, Prozac
Backlash is filled with compelling, sometimes heartrending stories and
is thoroughly documented with extensive scientific sources. It is both
provocative and hopeful, a sound, reliable guide to the safe treatment
of depression and other psychiatric problems.
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