The Anti-Depressant Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Luvox

I enjoyed reading this book! It has given me more insight into depression and drugs, and backed up my own theories I have formulated about them from my experiences and research. If you are thinking of using anti-depressants or know someone who is then you would certainly benefit from the knowledge in this book. It is written as a pretty one sided argument but then this guy is extremely passionate about it. This does not make him any more right or wrong, But reading his experience and qualifications does impress. I have to say my bull-o-meter could not be nudged in the slightest. Don't forget the world once was flat, Everything revolved around the Earth, Going faster than 100km/h could kill and..... For goodness sake deal with depression for what it is! If you don't know about it then learn about it. Don't deal with it by masking it with dangerous mind altering drugs which cause widespread devastation.

Dr. Breggin is probably THE expert on what psychotropic drugs can do to a person. He has done extensive research, and is regarded as an expert witness in many courts. Depression is a feeling, not a disease. To some extent, people choose to be depressed. Other people are depressed because they made bad decisions and did something they regret. Depression is not a result of a Paxil deficiency! Depression can be dealt with through natural means: re-thinking the decision to be depressed, seeking spiritual help, eating well, and so forth. These drugs really act by IMPAIRING the body and the brain in some way. They hurt people! Some people are particularly susceptible to the consequences of taking these drugs. Unfortunately, some doctors hand them out like candy. Few psychiatrists and psychologists take the time to really get to the root of the problem. However, good therapy is much, much more effective. In other words, the drugs don't work anyway. Dr. Breggin is specific about what these drugs do to the body. Sometimes a person has an impaired liver, which results in the drug accumulating in the body, which can mean a serious overdose. These drugs are particularly harmful to children. Campaigns to try to get doctors to prescribe these drugs to children are run by people who are committing crimes against humanity. They should suffer the fate they inflict on others. If a person is on such a drug, and does not stop taking it in a safe way, it can still cause violence, even if the person is no longer taking it. Sometimes mass shootings are committed by people who just stopped taking one of these drugs. Making the problem worse, some doctors will prescribe more than one. The drug companies cover up evidence of the harm they cause. I have seen how doctors try to COERCE some people to take these drugs against their will. If a person says the wrong thing and winds up being incarcerated in a mental hospital, they are vulnerable. I visited one mental hospital where the staff stayed in a locked cage outfitted with windows. The "patients" were also locked in. What happens if there is a fire? Why was the staff so afraid of the "patients"? I watched as a doctor tried to coerce a patient into taking a drug. He threatened the person and said she wouldn't be released if she didn't comply. The same doctor lied in the kangaroo court proceedings that decide whether or not the person continues to be held. These aren't people who have committed a crime. These are people who MIGHT do something detrimental. Last I looked, there was no such thing as a thought crime. This is a big money-making industry, for people who run mental hospitals, and for drug companies. Do you think lobotomies and electric shock treatments are things of the past? Think again. Dr. Breggin talks about that, too. I have seen how people I love get their personalities out of a bottle. It's scary. Why should you be concerned if you don't take these drugs? Simply because sometimes these drugs cause people to become violent. These drugs are often the trigger for shooting sprees aimed at strangers. Other people's willingness to take poisons affects YOU. You need to know about them. We need a change in public policy. These drugs should be banned. PLEASE read this book! People need to KNOW the DANGER these drugs pose to the general public. It's one thing for a person to take poison that only affects himself. It is quite another for him to take a poison that will make him violent. None of us is safe from the latter. If you value your survival, read this book and then act on it. Work toward getting these drugs banned. This author has written other books on the topic. I recommend you check them out as well. And expect people who have a conflict of interest to pan this book. They will. Trust me.

A very compelling read. Plain talk about the dangers of SSRI drugs, and the victims who are mislead into taking them. Dr. Breggin is compassionate towards the depressed and others suffering from emotional problems, and suggests successful treatment options that do not involve psychosurgery or drugs. He is able to state authoritatively that depression is an emotional disorder, not a physical one, and cannot be "cured" with drugs or other harmful brain damaging methods like lobotomy or electroshock. Many years of private practice and vast amounts of research into the private records of pharmaceutical companies enable Dr. Breggin to support his findings with empirical evidence. I highly recommend this book, especially to readers who suffer from depression, or have a friend or loved one who does.

The general facts about the drugs are discussed. The symptoms and causes of their discontinuation emphasize the reasons for which the drugs were prescribed. This does not square with the very real experience of withdrawing people. The book does not recognize the fact that withdrawal syndrome is distinct and not merely a rebound revealing an assumed underlying condition. Therefore, withdrawal-style instruction ranges from useless to exacerbating the condition. Still the book is a needed warning to those who need more solid facts before swallowing that first pill. The author seems very sincere and traditionally educated but lacking in facts from experienced patients, themselves. This work is a good starting point for those investigating the broader issue of chronic antidepressant-use.

Breggin's attack on serotonin-enhancing drugs claimed to be "anti-depressants" should be seen as a valuable cautionary in an environment which, due to the power of the drug-makers and the billions of dollars at stake, tends to promote them as "happy pills." More controversial are his claims that depression is not a "disease" and that the use of antidepressant medications can cause irrevocable brain damage. The present-day tendency of calling numerous human problems "diseases" can, as Breggin asserts, discourage human solutions. On the other hand, if the problem is "hereditary," it may not be so amenable to common-sense, willful, "humane cures" as Breggin claims. Moreover, the assertion concerning brain damage places him on relatively safe ground, since the widespread use of Prozac is scarcely more than 10 years old. Breggin touches on but fails to develop some important points. He suggests, for example, that the AARP is more interested in serving the big drug companies than helping its members but then drops the point. Certainly just as disturbing as the numerous prescriptions of antidepressants to patients motivated by a television ad to seek instant happiness is the indiscriminate prescription of antipsychotics to the elderly, especially in nursing homes where "behavioral problems" are an issue. In short, Breggin has covered this ground before. He's David going up against Goliath, a brave Lilliputian challenging the likes of Eli Lilly, and he doesn't let us forget it for an instant, reminding us of his credentials and past battles at every opportunity. Many of the "facts" he provides in this book are no more than the warnings of side-effects that are listed in the instructions coming with the medication. In fact, Breggin frequently quotes them, as though by doing so he has made his case. In short, this book will be of little value to the reader who has not been taken in by the extravagant claims and shameless promotions of the pharmaceutical industry or who has taken the time to look up information about a medication. On the other hand, for anyone who imagines that these medications do what they claim to do and that they are without side-effects potentially as disabling as the condition they are purported to treat, the book should be required reading.

When I first saw this book, the title seemed very plain and a little simple, but there was something that intrigued me about this book, so I bought it and I'm glad I did. There is so much important information that I found in this book and its only about 200 pages. There are 16 chapters and well over 100 sub-chapters that cover everything that you could possibly ever need to know. I've read the other reviews about this book and some are claiming that this book is one-sided, yes, the one side is the truth about antidepressants. You want the other side, here it is, Big Pharma lies to us and its all in the name of money, big money. The more you dig and follow the money trail behind the scenes, the more you will find the truth about what is really important, your health. No one is looking out for you, but you. Dr. Peter R. Breggin gets to the bottom of these issues and brings them to us in an easy to read, black and white format. He spells everything out carefully and is not afraid to point fingers and name names. If you are taking antidepressants, you will need to read this book, all the sub-chapters make it easy to find and pinpoint the exact thing you are looking for. Depression can be dealt with without the use of harmful antidepressants, do yourself a favor and get the facts, there in this this book.

Peter confidently asserts controversial statements like the following: “If a drug has an effect on the brain, it is harming the brain. Science has not found or synthesized any psychoactive substances that improve normal brain function.”

Every doctor and patient and all who are considering taking anti-depressants should be aware of the facts constained in this excellent and informative book. If doctors do not stop pushing anti-depressants we are going to have many people on drugs that have forgotten how (or never been given the chance to learn how) to fight the problems of life instead of succumbing to what seems the easy way out by taking a pill. But...only to find that it is easy to begin taking the meds but it can be no easy road to get off of them. And in the meantime a good portion of your life has been lived with parts of your brain being changed and keeping you from thinking and living to your full potiential.

Breggin kämpft seit Jahrzehnten gegen die zunehmende Medikamentierung von Menschen in seelischer Not. Höchst wissenschaftrlich widerlegt er hier die zentralen Behauptungen der Pharmaindustrie und klärt über den enormen Schaden, den Psychopharmaka anrichten, auf.

I didn't know that there was any other way to cope with depression than medication. I am so glad to have found this book. It has helped me to seek other means to deal with my depression, and I am happy to say I am now drug free, and living a joy filled life.

This book is explosive - if you have ever considered taking antidepressants, you need to read this first - if you do not, and you end up suffering for the remainder of your life, from any of the 'toxic poison' side-effects related here, then you have only yourself to blame. Mark Fletcher

As this was very biased, and also American, it was not quite what I wanted. I did however read it all, but would not recommend it to other people. It was in good condition and arrived on time well packed.

Despite Dr Breggin's credentials, this text is ultimately a melodramatic and terribly simplistic presentation of what is otherwise a highly valid anti-psycho-pharmacological position. The premise of the book is a poignant one - that antidepressants and other psychoactive medications both exasperate mental suffering and afflict users with dangerous side effects to boot. However, the argument is poorly articulated. Breggin's prose often seems as if it is directed at an infantile audience. He is inadvertently patronising; he assumes that his readers have zero knowledge not only of psychiatric practice but of scientific method generally. He makes sweeping claims without providing any explicit justificatory evidence - even though lord knows there is plenty of it. Breggin advances in a horribly unacademic, anti-scholastic manner. Enormous points of argument are covered fleetingly in the space of mere paragraphs and then simply repeated in excess rather than expanded upon and developed. Overall, one leaves this read very disappointed; Breggin has a lot to offer - his psychiatric ideology, from the little I can gather, is inspiring - but his best mind is not to be found here. Maybe he's just not a good writer?