Antidepressants

Psychiatric drugs are prescribed to more than twenty million Americans but can these drugs do more harm than good?

While a doctor may take fifteen minutes to determine the need for a psychiatric drug, the patient may end up taking it for months, years, or a lifetime. We deserve to know the dangers in advance -- including the difficulties we may encounter when trying to withdraw. Your Drug May Be Your Problem is the only book to provide an up-to-date, uncensored description of the dangers involved in taking every kind of psychiatric medication, and it is the first and only book to explain how to coordinate a safe withdrawal from them.

Every day millions of people take psychiatric drugs. In Better Than Prozac Samuel Barondes considers the benefits and limitations of Prozac, Ritalin, Valium, Risperdal, and other widely used medications and the ways that superior ones are being created. In tracing the early history of these drugs Barondes describes the accidental observations that led to their discovery and their great impact on our view of mental illness. He goes on to show how their unexpected therapeutic effects were attributed to their influence on neurotransmitters that carry signals in the brain and how this guided their improvement. But Barondes reminds us that, like the originals, current psychiatric drugs don't always work, and often have negative side effects. Furthermore, none were crafted as remedies for known brain abnormalities. In contrast, the design of the drugs of the future will be based on a different approach: an understanding of the molecular mechanisms that give rise to specific patterns of mental symptoms. Using colorful examples of contemporary research, he shows how it is gradually leading to a new generation of psychiatric medications. A lucid evaluation of psychopharmacology, Better Than Prozac offers a deep understanding of psychiatric drugs for people who take them, those who are considering them, and those who are just fascinated by the powerful effects of these simple chemicals on our thoughts and our feelings.

Modern psychiatry is based on the experiences and research of many psychiatrists, neurologists, neuropathologists and pharmacologists over the past 100 years. This historical account of psychiatry over the last century is therefore a timely publication of real interest to all psychiatrists and mental health professionals. It covers important developments in the recognition, understanding and treatment of psychiatric disorders, and includes biographies of many of the psychiatrists pioneering these advances. The impact of psychiatry on society, its culture and politics is discussed in detail. This is an invaluable reference resource on the history of psychiatry. Its comprehensive design, with consistent structure and use of sidebar headings ensures readability and accessibility.

Covering both traditional and alternative approaches to treating depression, this fully revised and updated guide outlines the many different types of depression, including mood swings, clinical depression, and bipolar disorders. Each type of depression is explained fully and is accompanied by suggestions for the most appropriate treatments. Simple descriptions and a user-friendly layout make this guide accessible for those suffering from mood disorders, their families, and the health professionals who care for them. Expanded sections on bipolar disorders and the influence of personality styles on nonmelancholic disorders are included in this new edition, and an online diagnostic test associated with the book encourages confidence in self-diagnosis and in seeking professional care.