Download The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment PDF

Rating: (10 reviews) Author: ISBN : 9780230574311 New from $65.39 Format: PDF

Download PRETITLE The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment [Hardcover] POSTTITLE from mediafire, rapishare, and mirror link

This book exposes the traditional view that psychiatric drugs correct chemical imbalances as a dangerous fraud. It traces the emergence of this view and the way it supported the vested interests of the psychiatric profession, the pharmaceutical industry and the modern state. Instead it is proposed that psychiatric drugs 'work' by creating abnormal brain states, which are often unpleasant and impair normal intellectual and emotional functions along with other harmful consequences. Research on antipsychotics, antidepressants and mood stabilisers is examined to demonstrate this thesis and it is suggested that acknowledging the real nature of psychiatric drugs would lead to a more democratic practice of psychiatry.

 

Sample Chapter:

http://www.palgrave.com/PDFs/0230574319.Pdf

 

Direct download links available for PRETITLE The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment POSTTITLE

• Product Details
• Table of Contents
• Reviews

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1 edition (February 5, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0230574319
• ISBN-13: 978-0230574311
• Product Dimensions: 1 x 5.3 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)

Download The Myth of the Chemical Cure: A Critique of Psychiatric Drug Treatment PDF

Depression was once viewed as a state of mind caused by stressful life factors, but today the majority of Americans believe depression is a biological disease caused by chemical imbalance in the brain. This shift in the way "mental disorders" like depression and anxiety are viewed has resulted in profound social and cultural changes. Antidepressants are now the most widely prescribed class of medications in the U.S., and many states have enacted parity legislation requiring insurance coverage for mental illness equal to physical illness. Soldiers returning from Iraq are encouraged to seek treatment for post-traumatic stress, and Congress may pass a "Mothers Act" to promote screening new moms for postpartum depression. In many classrooms more than half the students are on medications for attention deficit and similar disorders, and the number of U.S. children diagnosed with bipolar disorder has risen an astounding 4,000% in the past ten years. Almost weekly we hear of yet another school shooting, with headlines clamoring for early intervention and mandatory treatment of "at risk" individuals.

Against this backdrop of a seemingly rampant epidemic of mental illness, Joanna Moncrieff has written a brilliant new book calling into question nearly everything commonly believed about the nature of psychiatric illness and psychiatric medication. First and foremost, this book shatters the myth that psychiatric drugs restore chemical balance. Page by page and chapter by chapter, Dr. Moncrieff systematically exposes the shoddy science, flawed research and deceptive marketing campaigns which have led us down a sadly mistaken path that has nothing to do with science and everything to do with profit.