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Product Description
One of America's most controversial writers in the field, Breggin, writes about the uses and abuses of electroconvulsive therapy and drug therapy in the USA, where such things are used as cure-alls. He details the success of "talking therapy", and other psychosocial interventions in helping people diagnosed by psychiatrists as schizophrenic, depressed, panic disordered, hyperactive, and learning disabled, and documents how many of these conditions can be healed through love, guidance, empathy, family therapy, rehabilitation and the teaching of coping skills. And how psychiatry, motivated by power and money, increasingly favours chemical and mechanistic interventions.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
As a long term sufferer of mental illness, this book was like a light switch for me, explaining the long held feeling of powerlessness and invalidation I have experienced in being treated by psychiatrists and doctors. I had always wondered why it was that doctors would always dip straight into a drugs manual (normally published by a pharmaceutical company) to help me, when I was sitting there describing relationship and interpersonal difficulties. When their multiple antidepressant and anti-anxiety drug options did not work for me, they seemed to get irritated, sometimes angry. I was made to feel that I was making things up, being a hypchondriac. This meant I started to hide my feelings and symptoms even more. Then after finding a good, empathic therapist, I began to open up about the symptoms I have, stopped covering them up for fear of being made to feel a liar, and when I started to be honest it emerged that I have had a lifelong, serious mental illness, of PSYCHOSOCIAL origin, and that is known not to respond well to drug treatments, despite the list of neuroleptics, SSRI's and so on that are commonly given out for it despite poor results. I Am now getting the treatment I need, albeit privately - by pursung the NHS route I found myself caught ever deeper in a web of invalidation, sadness, frsutration and anger. Now that I have found an empathic therapist who listens to me and is brave enough to help me deal with my traumatic past, I am starting to heal. I have spoken with hundreds people in mental health forums who are experiencing the same sense of impotence, invalidation, self-blame and hopelessness in relying on psychiatry to help them, and who consistently begin to feel better when they find an empathic, understanding and courageous therapist to help them through their struggle. This book confirms and explains to me why, by placing my faith in doctors and psychiatrists for so long, I got progressivey iller and iller over a period of 9 years. Now I am off the drugs, I am experiencing emotions that have been locked away from me all my life. This book explains with clarity the political, commercial and sometimes (I am sad to say) arrogant factors that maintain psychiatry's dominance on mental health. I will say that some psychiatrists in the UK ARE showing signs of realising the importance of psychotherapy, and this is beginning to influence the way they treat patients. However, this is currently the exception and many will still reflect the illness-worsening attitudes that Breggin powerfully describes. If you are looking for answers in your personal life, wake up and smell the flowers and find a genuine path to healing - one that recognises that the human soul is not just a chemical reaction.
9 of 9 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book that gives a refreshing perspective on psychiatric practice. Written by a psychiatrist, you can be sure that it is not just a political rampage but written by some who has insider knowledge of the practice, theory and ideology that surrounds psychiatry. Working in the mental health field myself, it confirms a lots of concerns I have had for many years, particularily in relation to drug treatments and the harmful implications of biological theories, here stressing the word theory! A fantastic read, but does leave you feeling somewhat disheartened when contemplating if change will ever be possible. With such as close relationship between the drug industry and psychiatry - would it ever be possible? This book is a must read for anyone wanting to or working in the mental health field to ensure the protection of people entering and using the mental health system. I would recommend this book to psychologists and social workers, who through working in community mental health teams, would be more informed to challenge the drug focused decisions of psychiatrists, particularily when mental distress relates to psychosocial problems.
66 of 73 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an excellent book it bravely stands up to the overwhelming propoganda of modern psychiatry, Breggin presents compelling evidence for his arguments against the "toxic" treatments inflicted on those unfortunate enough to come into contact with the psychiatric establishment.
I particularly liked his critical approach to genetic theories of mental illness, these types of theories have received a lot of attention and popular support, indeed when I was a psychiatric nursing student we were led to believe that it was a fact that schizophrenia was a genetic illness, when in fact there is no proof to support this theory.
So few people question the claims of the psychiatric establishment, we live in an age when anti-depressants such as Seroxat ( a sister drug to Prozac) are being prescribed for the relief of shyness! Breggin makes the point that bio-chemical quick fixes, far from being the panacea for all our mental/emotional afflictions may in fact be exacerbating these conditions and leading on to further mental decline, and that these drugs do indeed represent a toxic threat to our minds and bodies. His plea for a more compassionate system of care, based on empathy and understanding should be heeded.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
For the sake of humanity
Brilliant book. Everyone should read this and learn. Neuroleptic polypharmacy is a shocking truth practised in 'mental health care' in the UK and beyond. Read more
Published 2 months ago by The Creator
The title hits the nail on the head
Breggin is one of the two most prominent heroes of the opposition to psychiatry movement, who has been campaigning against tortures in the name of psychiatry since the fifties of... Read more
Published 9 months ago by Mira de Vries
Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and Love Must Replace the...
I enjoyed this book although it was a lot of information to take in. I felt it give me a lot of insight into Psychiatry and a new perspective.
Published 12 months ago by Joy Miller
Readable but biased
A very readable book and interesting to see psychiatry from another perspective. However, Breggin does present a very biased picture when it comes to the "evidence" he discusses. Read more
Published on 28 Nov 2005
A great book
Toxic psychiatry was one of the first books I read about the world of psychiatry and psychiatric medication. Read more
Published on 24 Nov 2005 by andersen.counselling@virgin.net
Dealing with Family Drug Abuse
I have been struggling with the effects of phychiatric drugs over the past several years with a niece on Ritalin, a brother on Prozac, and my father taking Thorazine. Read more
Published on 30 Jun 2002
disappointing
Breggin lacks scientific evidence to support his views... It is these kind of opinions which create the stigma associated with mental illness! Read more
Published on 18 Oct 2001
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