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For my wife, Ginger
Her mother, Jean
Our daughter, Aly
Her husband, Chris And their new son, Cole.
Love you!
Table of Contents
Title Page
Copyright Notice
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
Copyright Page
