Talking Back to Prozac: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Today's Most Controversial Drug
Author: Petter R., M.D. Breggin, Peter R. Breggin
List Price: $16.95
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ISBN: 1879371820
Publisher: Publishing Mills (November, 1994)
Sales Rank: 489,198
Average Customer Rating: 3.71 out of 5
Customer Reviews
Rating: 2 out of 5
Alarmist propaganda
I'm a psychiatric nurse. Peter Breggin is well known in the field of psychiatric medicine as being anti-all drugs. Has prozac been overprescribed or mis-prescribed? sure. but this drug and the class it belongs to have helped WAY more people than they hurt. penicillin and other antibiotics can kill you too if you're allergic and don't know it. and antibiotics are WAY over prescribed if you ask me and other professionals. i've worked in state psychiatric hospitals and i've seen a LOT of people who only got out and back to the world because of medication. i would hate to think that a book like this would turn back the clock to the old days when there was no medication and people wasted their whole lives in the hospital. GET A GRIP: ANYthing you put in your body has side effects and you can die from taking too much Tylenol, too. picking on this drug is a cheap trick
Rating: 4 out of 5
Talking Back to Prozac
This book was full of very factual information. This author is very well versed in psychiatric drugs and their effects on the body and our society. The information provided in this book, helped me keep a steady path when dealing with a family member who was taking Prozac and flying high without emotions or regarding for others feelings.
The data in this book only validated what I had experienced with my family member and others who went to this drug for help. There are many alternatives to these drugs and people just need to search for the truth.
I can also recommend his book - Toxic Psychiatry.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Shameless fear-mongering...
The review of another reviewer here says it all -- This book (and many others like it) prey on the fears of the ignorant masses, who know nothing about psychology, psychiatry, medicine or science. A few already on the drug who read this may go off it, with potentially negative results -- for example, it's easy to "placebo effect" oneself into anything (including severe withdrawal symptoms one otherwise wouldn't have) after being scared to death by trashy books like this. Thankfully, its target audience consists mostly of "survivors" who had negative experiences (possibly caused by their mental issues rather than the drug) and who read this kind of crap to feel vindicated.In the previous review I referred to, the person says: "Prozac is known to harm the brain and the body. Listed side-effects reported included: Heart Attack, Bronchitis, Impotence, Pneumonia, Hair loss, Deafness, Cataracts, Duodenal ulcers, Kidney disorders, Stomach ulcers, Hepatitis, Gallstones, Arthritis, Pelvic pain, Breast cysts, Uncontrolled bowel movements, Breast pain..."
It is obvious that this person (and maybe even Breggin!) doesn't understand how to interpret reported side effects of a medication (clue: listed side effects include *all things that happened to anyone for any reason while taking the drug*). It's really sad when this kind of one-sided sensationalism becomes "holy gospel" for the ignorant and agenda-driven, who then proceed to close their minds, turn off their critical thinking facilities and refuse to investigate further. But of course we're already aware that Breggin is "preaching to the choir" here, and that this kind of sensationalist trash is what sells books these days. A real impartial, scientific view? Sadly, one's choices are probably limited to classroom textbooks anymore.
A few have stated that Breggin really cares for people -- how the hell do they know? If he cared, why doesn't he offer an impartial viewpoint with proofs so people can judge for themselves? Undoubtedly big pharma is "evil" (i.e. purely in it for the money) but given that Breggin is profiting bigtime off the fear generated from his books, what does that make him?
A final question for Breggin's congregation: Why didn't he just release all this information on the Net freely to the public if he's such a great guy doing his best to save lives?
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