Sick? Your drug may be your problem

[Guest guest]

Your Drug May Be Your Problem:

How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric

Medications.

 

by Peter R. Breggin M.D. and David Cohen Ph.D.

Hardback, 1999, Perseus Books, Reading, MA.

 

The first book to expose the shortcomings of

psychiatric drugs and to guide patients

and doctors through the process of withdrawing

from them.

 

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 drug.It is the first and

only book to explain how to safely stop taking

psychiatric drugs.

 

Psychiatric drugs are given positive names like

" antidepressant, " " tranquilizer, " " sleeping pill, "

" stimulant, " " mood stabilizer, " and

" antipsychotic. " But can they do more harm than good?Can

they make you feel worse than ever?

 

Psychiatric drugs are prescribed to more than

twenty million Americans to help with problems

called " depression, " " anxiety, " " panic

disorder, "

" insomnia, " " obsessive-compulsive disorder, "

" manic-depressive (bipolar) disorder, " and

" attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. " But can

they cause problems you never had before?Can

they ruin your health and life?

 

Your doctor may take fifteen minutes to decide

you need a drug, but you can end up taking it

for months, years, or a lifetime.You deserve to

know the dangers in advance--including the

difficulties you may encounter when trying to

withdraw from them.

Before you start or stop taking psychiatric

drugs, read this book.Learn about their dangers and

learn about how to safely stop taking them.This

book can help you and your doctor make a

plan to safely withdraw you from psychiatric

drugs.

 

Groundbreaking and empowering, Your Drug May

Be Your Problem offers readers what they

have long sought-a medically and

psychologically

sound program for freeing themselves from

psychiatric drugs, emphasizing throughout the

importance for patients to keep control over the

withdrawal process.

 

About the Author

 

With a background that Time magazine describes

as " pure establishment " --Harvard College,

Case Western Reserve Medical School, and a

teaching fellowship at Harvard Medical

School--Peter Breggin, M.D., has become an

internationally known psychiatrist and author of

a dozen books, including the bestselling

Talking

Back to Prozac and Talking Back to Ritalin.

Formerly a member of the faculty of the Johns

Hopkins University Department of Counseling,

he is the International Director of the Center

for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology,

which he founded in the early 70s. He is in

private practice in Bethesda, Maryland.

 

David Cohen, Ph.D., holds degrees from McGill

University and the University of California at

Berkeley. He is Professor of social work at the

University of Montreal, where he teaches and

does research in the field of psychiatric

medication, a subject on which he has published

widely.

 

What Others Are Saying About Your Drug May Be

Your Problem!

" This book leads the way in explaining and

redefining the growing pathology

of the culture of psychiatric medications. It

is a reminder of where we are

and a non-medical prescription of where we can

go. "

 

-- Dr. Fred Bemak, Professor of Counselor

Education and Section Head for

Wellness and Human Services, College of

Education, The Ohio State University

 

" In non-technical, easy to understand

language,

Peter Breggin and David

Cohen bring an incredibly important and hardly

ever recognized message to

people who need to understand the dark side of

psychiatric drugs and how to

stop taking them. I heartily recommend it. "

 

-- Candace Pert, Ph.D., Research Professor,

Department of Physiology and

Biophysics, Georgetown University Medical

Center

and author of Molecules of

the Mind

 

 

" This book is long overdue. Drs. Breggin and

Cohen make possible the

practice of psychiatry with a conscience. "

 

-- Bertram P. Karon, Ph.D., Professor of

Clinical Psychology, Michigan State

University.

 

 

" This innovative, informative, and

easy-to-read

book is a godsend for

non-medical people such as parents, teachers,

counselors, social workers,

and psychologists who need to know the

potential

dangers of referring their

children, students, or clients to physicians

for

psychiatric medication. "

 

-- Clemmont E. Vontress, PhD, Professor

Emeritus of Counseling, George

Washington University

 

" It has taken great courage for Drs. Breggin

and Cohen to write this very

significant book....As advocates for

non-pharmacological approaches...the

authors have outlined a careful and highly

responsible program for

withdrawal from psychiatric medications. "

 

-- Milton F. Shore, Ph.D., Former President,

American Orthopsychiatry

Association, and recipient of the American

Psychological Association Award

for Outstanding Professional Contributions

(1998)

 

 

" This groundbreaking book provides a

comprehensive and honest source of

information about adverse and withdrawal

effects

of commonly-used

psychiatric drugs. It should be in the office

of all medical and

non-medical " mental health " workers. It should

also be read by anyone

considering the use of psychiatric drugs and

all

those who want to stop. "

 

-- David H. Jacobs, Ph.D., Clinical

Psychologist, Resident Faculty,

California Institute of Human Science

 

 

" Working as a consultant I am constantly

looking for ways to help clients

achieve a more educated view regarding

psychotropic medication. Breggin and

Cohen have assembled a gold mine of information

to assist in this process.

I can think of no other book that has done such

a superb job of making such

information accessible at any point of decision

regarding taking or

discontinuing psychotropic medication. "

 

-- Tony Stanton, M.D., Psychiatric Consultant

 

" Emotional maturity, self-confidence, and life

competence come from

struggling with stresses, fears, and

adversities. When young people become

addicted to drugs they remain emotionally

immature until they quit and start

learning to cope. Breggin and Cohen point out

that the same is true of

chronic users of major psychiatric medications.

It is not until they

withdraw from the chemical dependency urged on

them by psychiatry, that they

can develop inner strengths for coping with

life's difficulties. "

 

-- Al Siebert, Ph.D., author of The Survivor

Personality

 

 

" One hundred years from now, people will read

current psychiatric textbooks

with the same incredulity we have about

blood-letting and snake oil. Your

Drug May Be Your Problem will be remembered as

the turning point and as the

beacon that showed the way out of these dark

days of widespread psychiatric

drugging. Breggin and Cohen, like trusted

friends, provide us with critical

information we need to know in order to make

informed decisions about

psychiatric drugs, including when and how to

stop taking them. They present

it all within a coherent philosophy of life and

health that makes the

routine use of psychiatric drugs obsolete. If

you have reached that

inevitable point of being disillusioned with

your psychiatric drug, this

book will be your best friend and guide. "

 

-- Douglas C. Smith, MD

 

 

 

" Your Drug May Be Your Problem provides much

useful and very practical

information and it is much needed considering

that there is such massive

propaganda by the pharmaceutical and medical

industries about such drugs.

This propaganda must be combated, and this book

contributes to that effort. "

 

-- Wolf Wolfensberger, Ph.D., Research

Professor, Syracuse University School

of Education and Director, Training Institute

for Human Service Planning,

Leadership and Change Agentry

 

" Your Drug May Be Your Problem is an honest and

straightforward attempt to

present a clear picture of drug effects, why we

turn to drugs, their role in

society, and more. It fills a real need in our

current drug culture and in

our current complete trust in the drug

dispenser

himself. The book's main

import will be to serve as a counter-balance to

the myth of a " miracle " drug

cure. It's a must on everyone's bookshelf! "

 

-- Rhoda L. Fisher, Ph.D., Clinical

Psychologist

 

" I recommend Your Drug May Be Your Problem as

the number one self- help

guide to coming off psychiatric drugs. "

 

-- Dr. Steven Baldwin, Ph.D., Senior Editor,

Ethical Human Sciences and

Services Professor, School of Social Sciences,

University of Teesside, Teesside, UK.

 

 

" This book is one of the most important things

that has happened to

psychiatry and especially to so-called

" psychiatric patients " during this

century. Having worked for more than 20 years

with so-called schizophrenics

--the main victims of the abuse of psychiatric

drugs--I can say that Peter

Breggin and David Cohen must be praised for the

courage they have had to

unmask many pseudo-scientific conclusions

frequently present in supposedly

scientific literature. "

 

-- Alberto Fergusson, M.D., Director, Fungrata

 

" I highly recommend this book to persons on

psychiatric drugs, and to the

physicians who prescribe them. These drugs are

very powerful, either for

good or for harm. Since the actions for almost

all of them are still

unknown, the people who use them are being

experimented on, mostly

without their knowledge. Drs. Breggin and Cohen

are experts on the

negative effects of drugs. Their views should

be

just as widely known as

the misleadingly positive advocations of the

drug companies. "

 

-- Thomas J. Scheff , Professor Emeritus, Dept

of Sociology, UCSB

 

" Anyone considering saying " yes " to psychiatric

drugs, or wanting to " just

say no, " should first say " YES " to buying and

reading this essential,

informative book. Breggin and Cohen's goal is

empowerment of troubled

people seeking help, not propaganda, pressure

or

profit. This book

questions, informs, warns, and leaves the

reader

far better able to choose

wisely. "

 

-- Thomas Greening, Ph.D.

 

" This is a courageous, compassionate book, and

a

much-needed antidote to

the pro-drug bias of modern psychiatry and

psychology. "

 

-- John Horgan, author The End of Science and

The Undiscovered Mind.

 

" The modern medical approach to almost any

human

problem is to find a drug

-- a sort of magic bullet --to fix it. But

many

drugs do more harm than

good -- and some even cause the problems they

are supposed to fix. And once

on a drug, coming off may also be dangerous.

In

this clear and important

book, Peter Breggin and David Cohen outline the

problems and provide a

step-by-step account of how to come off the

drug

which may be harming you. "

 

-- Steven Rose, Ph.D., Professor of Biology and, Brain and Behavior

Research Group, Open University

 

" I sure hope the authors have bodyguards and

lots of insurance-the

psychotropic drug manufacturers will be on

their

tails for sure.

Confronting current psychiatric drug

prescribing

practice head on is a

daunting task-we owe Breggin and Cohen a vote

of

thanks for openly speaking

the truth. Despite what the pharmaceutical

companies would

have us believe we don't need " a better life

through chemistry " . This book

will help debunk this myth and provide

practical

advice on how to avoid

psychiatric drugs and get off them " .

 

-- Loren Mosher, Soteria Associates, San Diego,

CA., Former Chief of the

Center for Studies of Schizophrenia, National

Institute of Mental Health,

Rockville, MD.

 

" Your Drug May Be Your Problem is a clear,

accurate and thorough look at the

dangers of psychiatric drugs and a prudent

outline of what steps to take for

those who want to stop taking them. "

 

-- Thomas J. Moore, author Prescription for

Disaster: The Hidden Dangers in

Your Medicine Cabinet

 

" I wish I had this book when I was trying to

come off psychiatric drugs.

How wonderful that you have provided this

guide. "

 

- Kate Millett

- Author, Sexual Politics and The Loony Bin

Trip

 

" Drs. Peter Breggin and David Cohen take the

reader through the risky

pathways of psychiatric medication with

accurate

information as a guide.

Dr. Breggin was a voice in the night calling

for

responsibility with

psychiatric medication. Now he leads an

orchestra of protest. "

 

-- Jay Haley, United States International

University, author of Leaving Home

and Learning and Teaching Therapy

 

" Breggin has been a brave pioneer in not only

pointing out but also

meticulously documenting the ways that the

" Emperor " of traditional mental

health treatment is naked. His relentless

raising of questions and

documentation of false advertising and

cover-ups

by drug companies and

various forms of abuse of patients by a variety

of therapists is invaluable

and irreplaceable. "

 

-- Paula J. Caplan, Ph.D., author of They Say

You're Crazy and The Myth of

Women's Masochism, Visiting Scholar, Pembroke

Center, Brown University

 

" Nowhere does the false medical thinking, that

there is a drug free cure for

almost all common diseases, do more harm than

in

the modern psychiatric

argument that mental illness is easily

diagnosed

and then cured by a

side-effect free drug. Nowhere is the correct

psychiatric thinking more

evident than in the books by Peter Breggin. In

them he explains clearly

that patients with mental illnesses are in

almost all instances suffering

from their inability to connect with important

people in their lives and

need help in making these vital connections.

He

supports safe, drug free

counseling as a more effective way to help

people and I enthusiastically

agree with this premise. "

 

-- William Glasser, M.D., psychiatrist; author

of Reality Therapy

forthcoming Reality Therapy in Action