Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications

Title Page
Copyright Notice
Table of Contents
Introduction - These Are True Stories
Chapter 1 - Killing the Pain—and Almost the Cop
	HARRY ON PAXIL
	SPELLBOUND BY PAXIL
	DID HARRY “GET AWAY WITH IT?”
	CRITERIA FOR EVALUATING MEDICATION MADNESS
	INVOLUNTARY INTOXICATION: A NEUROLOGICAL DISORDER
	WHAT WAS THE PAIN INSIDE HARRY’S HEAD?
	AKATHISIA: A PAINFUL DANCE OF DEATH
	THE PERPETRATOR PROFILE
Chapter 2 - What Is Medication Spellbinding?
	A CLOSER LOOK AT MEDICATION SPELLBINDING
	MEDICATION MADNESS CAUSED BY NONPSYCHIATRIC DRUGS
	WARNINGS
	MANY DEPRESSING DRUGS
	HOW THE CONCEPT OF SPELLBINDING CAME ABOUT
	MEDICATION SPELLBINDING, FAITH, AND AUTHORITY
	CAUSATION AND FREE WILL
	SOCIETY REINFORCES THE SPELLBINDING EFFECT
Chapter 3 - The Toothless Watchdog Growls
	THE DRUG LABEL
	CONFIRMATION FROM THE COURTS
	SOUNDING A WARNING IN 1991
	THE FDA BEGINS TO REACT
	THE FDA ADVISORY COMMITTEE AWAKENS TO THE BROADER DANGERS
	THE NEW BLACK BOX ABOUT ANTIDEPRESSANT-INDUCED SUICIDALITY IN CHILDREN
	APPLYING THE SUICIDE WARNING TO ADULTS TAKING ANTIDEPRESSANTS
	CONFIRMING MEDICATION MADNESS, INCLUDING STIMULATION OR ACTIVATION
	GSK CONFESSES: PAXIL CAUSES SUICIDAL BEHAVIOR IN ADULTS
	FDA ADVISORY COMMITTEE CONFIRMS ANTIDEPRESSANT-INDUCED SUICIDALITY IN ADULTS
	CONTROLLED CLINICAL TRIALS PREVENT SUICIDE, REGARDLESS OF THE DRUG
	LINING UP TO DEFEND THE DRUGS
	DO ANTIDEPRESSANTS WORK AT ALL?
	NO LONGER ALONE
Chapter 4 - Young Girl Murderers in the Making
	MURDERING MOM
	LASTING PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS
	WHAT IF EMILY HAD ACTED?
	A FORTUNATE EXCEPTION TO ROUTINE PSYCHIATRIC PRACTICE
	CHESTNUT IS DROWNING
Chapter 5 - Doctors Driven Mad by Medication
	THE NATURE OF MANIA
	HIGH RATES OF ANTIDEPRESSANT MADNESS IN ADULTS
	HIGH RATES OF ANTIDEPRESSANT MADNESS IN CHILDREN
	THE RISK OF GIVING ANTIDEPRESSANTS TO ESPECIALLY VULNERABLE PATIENTS
	ASSAULTING HIS COLLEAGUE WITH A TACK HAMMER
	A DOCTOR COLLECTS CONSTRUCTION MACHINERY
	KNOWN EFFECTS OF ALL STIMULANTS
	STRATTERA: THE NONSTIMULANT STIMULANT
	CONFIRMATION OF STRATTERA’S DEVASTATING IMPACT
	FROM RARE TO COMMONPLACE
	THE COVER-UP
Chapter 6 - Killing Loved Ones to Save the World
	ONE OF THE NICEST PEOPLE
	PSYCHIATRY’S COMPULSION TO DO “MORE OF THE SAME”
	LIKE ABUSERS IN THE FAMILY
	MISSING THE CORRECT DIAGNOSIS
	FINDING HIS WAY TO ME
	WOMEN KILLING THEIR CHILDREN
Chapter 7 - Drug-Induced “Happy Faces”
	ACTING STUPIDLY—AGAIN AND AGAIN
	A FIVE-AND-ONE-HALF-YEAR MANIC REACTION
	THE ENTERTAINING HOME INVADER
	PROZAC AND XANAX IN A DEADLY COCKTAIL
Chapter 8 - Not Quite Twelve Years Old
	MEDICATING ANDY
	RISPERDAL: ANOTHER POTENTIAL MEDICATION CATASTROPHE
	BRINGING LAWSUITS
Chapter 9 - Sleeping Pill Madness
	SEDATIVES, HYPNOTICS, AND ANXIOLYTICS
	HIGH UP AND ON HALCION
	GREAT BRITAIN TAKES STRONG ACTIONS
	THE TRIAL IN MARTIN QUICK’S CASE
	SPELLBOUND BY THE NEWER SLEEPING PILLS
Chapter 10 - Tranquilized Into Violence
	FROM CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVIST TO RACIST
	EXTENSIVE SCIENTIFIC LITERATURE
	THE BRAIN-DISABLING EFFECTS OF TRANQUILIZERS
	EVEN ONE OR TWO DOSES
Chapter 11 - A Courtroom Christmas Story
Chapter 12 - A Vicious Addiction
	THE MAN WHO COULDN’T TELL A LIE
	FROM ACUTE TO LASTING DEVASTATION
	A LIMITED TRIUMPH OVER XANAX
Chapter 13 - He Wanted to Do Better in School
	THE FDA: MUCH TOO LITTLE, MUCH TOO LATE
	ONCE AGAIN, THE FDA PLAYS CATCH-UP
	ONCE AGAIN, FUMBLING THE BALL
	TREATING CHILDREN WITH COCAINELIKE DRUGS
	A SPELLBOUND RECITATION
	SUICIDE AS AN AMPLIFICATION OF THE DRUG’S “THERAPEUTIC EFFECT”
	WITHDRAWING CHILDREN FROM STIMULANTS
	DO STIMULANTS BENEFIT CHILDREN?
Chapter 14 - Spellbound by Ritalin Addiction
	IT ALL BEGAN WITH ADHD
	ACUTE EFFECTS VS. ADDICTION
	WILLOW IN HER TEENS
	WILLOW SHOWS SIGNS OF ADDICTION
	ADDICTION WARNINGS
	ADDICTION AS A CAUSE OF DEATH
	RITALIN AS A GATEWAY DRUG TO STREET DRUGS
Chapter 15 - Parents Forced to Drug Their Children
	A VERY GENTLE FATHER FIGHTS BACK
	STATE DOCTORS GANG UP ON A FAMILY
	TRYING TO PUSH AROUND THE WRONG FAMILY
	BEWARE MENTAL HEALTH SCREENING
Chapter 16 - This Is Not My Daughter
	IT SEEMED TO HELP HIS ALLERGIES
	SPELLBOUND BY ANTIPSYCHOTIC STABILIZING DRUGS
	ZYPREXA ZOMBIE
	A WOMAN NEARLY DESTROYED BY ANTIPSYCHOTIC DRUGS
	LITHIUM DOLDRUMS
	DRUG-WITHDRAWAL MADNESS
Chapter 17 - Dilemmas and Difficulties in the Role of the Medical Expert
	ZERO RECIDIVISM
	DISTORTED PERCEPTIONS OF REALITY
	ARE MEDICATION MADNESS RECOLLECTIONS RELIABLE?
	THE ROLE OF THE MEDICAL EXPERT
Chapter 18 - Drug Companies on Trial
	THE DARK SIDE OF ELI LILLY AND PROZAC
	THE INFAMOUS WESBECKER CASE
	BLOWING THE WHISTLE ON THE “MISSING” ELI LILLY DOCUMENTS
	THE DARK SIDE OF PAXIL AND GLAXOSMITHKLINE
Chapters 19 - Marketing Myths and the Truth About Psychiatric Medication
	MARKETING MYTH: PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS CORRECT BIOCHEMICAL IMBALANCES
	MARKETING MYTH: PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS DON’T PERMANENTLY HARM THE BRAIN
	MARKETING MYTH: PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS IN SMALL DOSES ARE RELATIVELY HARMLESS
	MARKETING MYTH: PSYCHIATRIC DRUGS ARE NECESSARY TO PREVENT SUICIDE AND VIOLENCE
	MARKETING MYTH: PSYCHIATRIC DISORDERS ARE DISEASES LIKE DIABETES
	MARKETING MYTH: “THE DRUG ONLY UNMASKED YOUR UNDERLYING PSYCHIATRIC DISORDER”
	MARKETING MYTH: “YOU WILL HAVE TO TAKE THEM FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE”
	MARKETING MYTH: YOUR PSYCHIATRIST IS A BRAIN EXPERT
	MARKETING MYTH: YOUR DOCTOR KNOWS WHAT’S BEST FOR YOU
Chapter 20 - Spellbound by Drug-Withdrawal Reactions
	A MORE TRAGIC OUTCOME
Chapter 21 - Making Drug Withdrawal as Safe as Possible
	BEFORE STARTING TO TAPER YOUR DRUG
	THE WITHDRAWAL PROCESS
	SPECIFIC TREATMENTS FOR WITHDRAWAL
	GETTING PROFESSIONAL HELP
	HOW LONG WILL WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS LAST?
	MEDICAL EMERGENCIES THAT MAY REQUIRE RAPID DRUG WITHDRAWAL
	ADDITIONAL SOURCES OF INFORMATION
	DO WITHDRAWAL SYMPTOMS CAUSE PERMANENT DAMAGE?
	A SUCCESSFUL WITHDRAWAL
Chapter 22 - The Tough Question of Personal Responsibility
	OVERWHELMED BY SEROTONIN
	CONVINCING THE LEGISLATORS
	MORALITY IN MOLECULES
	THE CRUX OF THE MATTER
	THE IMPORTANCE OF VALUES
	WHAT DO OTHER PSYCHIATRISTS HAVE TO SAY?
	MILLIONS OF SPIRITUAL DEATHS
	THE ULTIMATE CHOICE
Chapter 23 - Choose Your Last Resort Wisely
	NO WISDOM IN PSYCHIATRIC TEXTBOOKS
	THE LIMITS OF PSYCHOTHERAPY
	WHAT REALLY MAKES THERAPY WORK?
	KEEP THEM SAFE FROM PSYCHIATRY
	PRINCIPLED LIVING
	PRINCIPLES OF LIFE
Acknowledgments
PROFESSIONAL BOOKS BY PETER R. BREGGIN, M.D.
Appendix A - Psychiatric Medications by Category
Appendix B - What Else Can You Do?
Notes
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Notes
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