Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy, and Love Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the

by Peter R. Breggin

Book Overview

A psychiatrist's devastating critique of how the new psychiatry is damaging millions of people. Biopsychiatry, says Dr. Breggin, is the dominant ideology of the medical-pharmaceutical establishment which frequently announces breakthroughs in brain chemistry to justify the use of drugs, electroshock, involuntary hospitalization, and other harsh treatments.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312059752
• ISBN13: 9780312059750
• Release Date: January 1991
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 464 Pages
• Weight: 1.90 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

The Dark Underbelly of Psychiatry

I enjoying reading this book very, very much. It provides vital information which is needed, but most often excluded by psychiatrists, to make any sort of informed decision in reguard to many psychiatric treatments. This book shows the horrors of psychiatry, from a psychiatrist's viewpoint, this in itself makes for very interesting reading. I found the points made to be logical and truth revealing, not candy coated and over-simplified. For a non-medical book, the points are explained in depth and have been researched from many sources, which are conveniently labled and listed in the back of the book. I gave this book 5 stars, because even though I don't believe it to be perfect in composition or perfect in ideology, it is so dense with material, that it speaks volumes. So It gets 5 stars, imperfect as it is. Although I do believe "Toxic Psychiatry" shows a one-sided picture, I believe this does not obscure the point being made; that there is something seriously wrong with psychiatry and how it's methods of treatment are applied. The general prevailing idea of this book is that Pills do not help anybody in finding the reasons for their emotional conditions, they simply make them less able to feel them. Kind of like putting anesthetic on a cut rather than anti-septic. One thing to keep in mind is that we have all been exposed to countless other one-sided pictures on our tvs, in magazines, on billboards, in pamphlets, and many other places reguarding this subject (incessant advertising). We already know that side. This book fills in the gaping holes and it answers valid questions that aren't even hinted at in those other one-sided pictures we have seen. (How many people do you know that have taken Paxil, only to find out that it can and does cause severe withdrawel after discontinuation? But these people didn't know about that, of course. Their doctors never told them. Some of these people are even told that the withdrawel symptoms are from their "pre-existing condition." I have had family and friends who have had this happen to them. It seems to be more than a coincidence to me. Suffice it to say, it angers me greatly.) I have seen many 'caring' commercials which prey on people's need for empathy and their willingness to evade blame for their behavior by gently convincing them that they have a horrible biological disorder and that it is easily curable by 'mild' drugs that have 'no' harmful and/or 'no' permanent side effects. (instead of telling them that the research doesn't show that there is a biological disorder, but only a limited success with treating the 'disorder' using biological means [psychotropic drugs] and that there either ARE long term side effects, or that potential long term side effects are unknown but very possible) Advertising coupled with the eager willingness of many psychiatrists to prescribe psychotropic drugs makes for a very dangerous combination. There is much deception in psychiatry, from seminars sp

One of the most shocking books I've ever read

I was amazed at some responses to this book - it seems many people haven't read this book carefully and are responding more out of passionate beliefs about the use of psychoactive medicines based on their own experiences with them.This book does not advocate the outright stopping of psychoactive medicines. It points out, through very careful discussion of a huge host of experimental data, case studies, and a wide range of professional opinion (in addition to the author's), that none of the so-called diseases that these medicines supposedly treat has ever been shown to have a biological basis. In fact, this discussion is so complete and convincing that it would seem to be outright denial to argue the opposite, even though that is what the media and numerous "experts" do regularly - many of these so-called experts going so far as to blindly ignore data that they either previously or later agreed did support the opposing viewpoint.The book then goes on to point out through more careful analysis of a great deal of data that these medicines are all very general and act on large areas of the brain, and do not (and quite frankly can not) treat specific biological problems. They all treat symptoms in a very general sense. Additionally, all of them have severe side effects, and many (if not all) cause permanent brain damage.This book makes an important point concerning these so-called "diseases of the mind" which bears repeating. People in the throes of these afflictions, or people very close to them, are often suffering so greatly that they want nothing more than to have the symptoms alleviated. It is widely known that a large number of alcohol and drug abusers are simply medicating away their depression, anxiety, or other more extreme form of mental anguish. Should we as a society and as individuals suffering from these afflictions be so ready to accept what amounts to a professionally sanctioned drugging away of these symptoms?The book does not state, as some people have erroneously suggested, that psychiatric and psychological problems are all rooted in one's childhood, or that one's parents are always to blame. It does, however, suggest and point out through numerous case studies and analysis of data that these problems are almost always due to a personal, mental, family, or spiritual crisis of some kind. It also suggests that developing the will to investigate and ultimately resolve these crises with a competent therapist is almost always preferable to drugging them away, for a multitude of reasons, not the least of which is that it develops one's sense of personal self-determination and self-knowledge rather than subjecting her or him to a further demoralizing dependence on drugs.I would suggest suspending judgment and giving this book a careful read. It is easily one of the most disturbing books I have ever read, and is a shocking expose of the abuses of the psychiatric industry for its own gain.Before jumping to conclusions, ask yourself this: wh

Eloquence, Compassion and Courage

Few psychiatrists have spoken out against the oppression of people diagnosed with schizophrenia or manic-depression. The psychiatric establishment uses the "biomedical model" as an excuse to continue its torture and oppression of psychiatric patients.Dr. Breggin has the wisdom and compassion to mistrust the psychiatric establishment. Instead, he lets himself be guided by the patients' own authentic experience. Instead of judging and ridiculing patients, Dr. Breggin approaches them as worthy paricipants in the human condition. He views them as fully human beings with human dignity whose lives have meaning and value.Dr. Breggin discusses the biomedical model expounded by neuroleptic drug manufacturers and psychiatry. He mentions some family "advocacy" groups which depend on drug manufacturer largesse. There are now forced drugging laws in almost every state in the U.S. These groups, along with their drug company sponsors, have been the main lobbyists for legislation forcing (by court order) peaceful, law-abiding citizens to submit to painful, degrading, debilitating, potentially fatal "treatment."In the first chapter of this book, Dr. Breggin tells of his experience volunteering at a mental ward when he was an undergrad at Harvard. He and his fellow students caused dismay among the administrators of the hospital when they asked permission to take some patients on walks or a short trip. The students wanted to do this on a one-to-one basis. The students suspected that the "mentally ill" patients' main problem was the "treatment" they were receiving at the hospital. Unfortunately, those students' suspicions were confirmed.Dr. Breggin suggested to one of the administrators that it was neither humane nor healthy to have the temperature so low in the patients' ward. The administrator replied, "Schizophrenics don't feel temperature like the rest of us do."The Harvard undergrads finally did get permission to work with individual patients. The undergrads worked with fourteen patients, all of whom eventually left the hospital to live on their own. Only two or three returned.These particular patients had been at the ward for decades. Hospital administrators thought of them as hopeless. Dr. Breggin's undergrad experience was an obvious refutation of the biomedical model.What bothers me the most about the biomedical model, though, is that, even if it were well-grounded in scientific evidence---which it is not---it still would not justify torture.I have known the great privilege of having a family member who has a diagnosis of schizophrenia. She is not "sick." She does not have a "neurobiological brain disorder." If she had a neurobiological brain disorder, neurologists, not psychiatrists, would be treating it.She is a warm, gifted, sensitive, highly intelligent young woman with special problems which make life unusually difficult for her. This difficulty has been magnified and exacerbated a thousand-fold by society's scapegoating and psychiatry's degradation an

An Incisive Challenge to the Scapegoating of Children

Dr. Breggin's respect for children is evident in his writings. He challenges the current cliches of "chemical imbalance" and "genetic" as being "causes" in the behavior of most children. He offers as an alternative the proven family therapy approach for the child who is "acting out". Working with the entire family, rather than just the "problem" child, often shows that family stresses are acted out by the child in behavior that distrubs others. If this is in fact what is occuring, labelling and medicating the child will only delay addressing the family stressors and fears and unjustly stigmatize the child as "the problem". This scapegoating of the child is undeserved and usually cruel. Dr. Breggin has clearly evaluated our working "theories" and meticulously shown their severe weaknesses and biases. He further shows how compassionate family therapy and non-judgmental education of the family to what is actually happening within it leads to reducing the child's acting out and the proud survivorship of that family as an emotional unit. Our awareness to this problem can only help the child, parents and society. This can be truly a Win-Win-Win situation as we look more carefully at the facts. Congratulations Dr. and Mrs. Breggin for your courage to buck the Establishment and its vested interests and to inform us of the problem and its solutions. Paul Huffington M.D.

An extremely important book for anyone today.

This is an extremely important book for anyone seeking mental health services, for anyone who knows someone doing the same, or for anyone working in or planning a career in mental health; i.e., for anyone today. I teach undergraduate psychology, and plan to increasingly incorporate this book and its information into my courses.The trends observed by Breggin in this 1991 book, toward the dominance of mental health by biopsychiatric views, have increased during the 1990's, as Breggin's more recent books (e.g., Talking Back to Prozac, and Talking Back to Ritalin) attest. Toxic Psychiatry is a more comprehensive work, providing evidence that both mild and severe psychosocial problems may in fact be exacerbated by the biopsychiatric approach. Details of specific drugs and their effects, as well as alternative theoretical and treatment perspectives round out this book. Breggin possesses the expertise to discuss these issues in depth and specificity, but also the clarity of writing to make this information accessible to the general reader. While making no pretense of presenting a "balanced view" in itself, this book provides the necessary balance in a culture where media and political forces so strongly promote the other side. Breggin's extensive inside knowledge of the political and economic forces driving the mental health "industry", and his documentation of those forces, should command everyone's attention.