Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshock, and the Role of the Fda Hardcover – June, 1997

Dr. Breggin points out the side effects of psychiatric drugs and procedures that many doctors either ignore or don't know about due to drug company hype and the FDA's shoddy oversight. I wish more doctors would read this book before they prescribe dangerous drugs and procedures who's long term effects are in many cases still unknown.

I am a mental health professional, and am extremely grateful for this book. For years, I sought to explain why most of my clients were suffering through medical treatments that are supposed to help but clearly did not. I knew that medication contraindicated psychotherapy, which has far superior efficacy relative to medication, but I couldn't verbalize exactly how or why. This book did a great job of doing just that. I also knew that drug companies played a significant role in perpetuating the fraud of psychiatry, but I didn't have the time to find out how or why. This book did a great job of explaining that sad unethical phenomenon. I knew that many of the medications produced a lobotomy-like indifference in most of my clients, and I appreciate individuals with the courage to make this finding public despite the wide-spread denial of those who have the 'medicalized executive functioning cognitive deficit.' Throughout my years as a mental health professional, I thought about ways to expose the fraud of psychiatry that was and continues to ruin my clients' lives. This book did a great job of exposing that fraud. It has also motivated me into taking action against this fraud. One other thing: this review is based on generalities. Thus, I do not wish to take away anything from the relatively minimal amount of consumers that have benefitted from psychiatric medication, which I have never seen personally. However, it should be noted that psychological methods are far more efficacious and do not produce nasty, and sometimes permanent side effects relative to toxic medications. I encourage people to take this into consideration before I begin treatment with them, which is something that many psychiatrists will never admit to or allow their clients the empowerment to decide on their own).

This book helped my son, but unfortunately the information it contains came to me too late to help a woman friend whose brain was severely damaged by neuroleptic drugs. My son was taking a popular anti-depressant administered by a Psychaitrist. He was able to get out of bed which was some improvement in his condition and was limping along through life when I told him of the possible destructive effects and essential ineffectualness of these psychaiatric drugs which attack symptoms only. He immediately fired his psychaitrist whose sessions consisted merely of asking him if he felt better, contacted a psychologist and started a course of talk therapy. There were times when he hated me, times when he hated his mother, but now he is doing fine without the need for drugs. I have done considerable research on the findings outlined in the book. The National Library of Health website is full of articles confirming the incredibly destructive effects of these drugs on a significant percentage of patients.

this book has a ton of info on what the drugs do to your brain and body that can be permanent diseases

Any fool who thinks that ECT and other wacky treatments are based on science had better read Dr. Elliot S. Valenstein's GREAT AND DESPERATE CURES. The science is a joke. When families are desperate for a "cure", they will let physicians try anything on the paitent. Why do we feel we must "cure" mental paitents? Why will we try any crazy idea to facilitate a cure?
ECT, like lobotimization and insulin shock therapy and drilling holes in the skull to let out evil spirits, is based on physicians and neurosurgeons and psychiatrists burning desire to gain "name and fame" and inflate their egos... perhaps by writing up their "new" method of trying to torture the illness out of paitents. Yeah, often they think they are "helping", but if someone tries to "help" you by putting you into a coma, I suggest you RUN LIKE HELL!
I have a suggestion... how about we treat paitents with kindness, make institutions liveable for the violent, promote comfortable group-homes for those who are not? Perhaps pay psychiatric nurses and attendants well so that they will like their jobs and treat paitents well. How about we give up straightjackets and "four-point restraint" (biding paitents hands and feet) as a casual method of controlling paitents? How about we actually /care/ for them instead of harming them to "cure" them?
These treatments are twisted and Nazi-esque.
Love, Human kindness, gentle understanding, and proper science helps. Trying to jump the Human brain like jumping a car battery is ridicluous, stupid, cruel, and based on the sickest, flimsiest science ever created.