Book

Comfortably numb : how psychiatry is medicating a nation

Barber, Charles, 1962-

Overview

Public perceptions of mental health issues have changed dramatically over the last fifteen years, and nowhere more than in the rampant overmedication of ordinary Americans. In 2006, 227 million antidepressant prescriptions were dispensed in the United States, more than any other class of medication; that year, the United States accounted for 66% of the global market. Here, psychiatrist Barber provides a context for this disturbing phenomenon. He explores the ways in which pharmaceutical companies first create the need for a drug and then rush to fill it, and he reveals the increasing pressure Americans are under to medicate themselves. Most importantly, he argues that without an industry to promote them, non-pharmaceutical approaches that could have the potential to help millions are tragically overlooked by a nation that sees drugs as an instant cure for all emotional difficulties.--From publisher description.

• Publisher: Vintage Books
• Subject: Mental illness Chemotherapy United States History. / Psychotropic drugs United States Marketing History. / Psychotropic drugs industry Moral and ethical aspects United States. / Biological psychiatry United States History. / Psychiatry United States History. / Deceptive advertising United States.
• ISBN: 9780307274953, 0307274950

Item info:

1 item available

1 item total in all locations

Holdings :

Call Number	Copies	Material	Location
RC483.B28 2009	1	BOOK	AUTOSTORE