Customer Reviews

The Shooting Drugs - Prozac and its Generation Exposed on the Internet

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As a person who works professionally assisting people in recovering from the brain-damaging effects of psychoactive drugs, especially SSRIs and SNRIs, I can say that Ms. Smart has captured the truth about these drugs. She is not alone in her criticism of them. Peter Breggin, M.D., Joseph Glenmullen, M.D., David Healy, M.D. have all written about the SSRI antidepressants. Breggin is an expert witness for many of the cases agains Eli Lilly, Co., maker of Prozac, all of which have resulted in out of court settlements for the plaintiffs. One of his books, Talking Back to Prozac, details his industry-damning findings while executing a court-ordered discovery motion to gain access to Eli Lilly's files on Prozac.

Before you decide Ms. Smart is off-base, I suggest you read Breggin's book [and] Smart's book... Ms. Smart dares to challenge the most profitable industry in America by telling the horror story of these drugs. She is to be commended for her courage and commitment to truth.

In typical knee-jerk style Ms. Smart reacts to psychotherapeutic drugs as though the fall of Christ is to come shortly thereafter. Incomplete, insufficient and inaccurate research is the name of the game here. I too could write a story about my experiences on various psychopharmacological drugs and their impact on me, however what is important here is that these drugs when taken properly and under the care of a physician rarely produce the kinds of side effects she describes. Perhaps she needs to understand that Serzone, a popular medication for depression is in fact NOT an SSRI. Interesting idea, no support. Try again.
While blaming school shootings on meds is convenient, why not look at the fact that 1. the children had access to guns in the first place and 2. the children managed to breech the campus with them. Furthermore should there not be some analysis in which we ask ourselves why children would bring loaded weapons to school in the first place. Show and tell?

Most truly adverse "side-effects" are the result of a misdiagnosis. People with tendencies towards manic-depression should not take SSRIs without an accompanying mood stablizer like lithium because, alone, SSRIs can worsen mania which in turn worsens depression. Responsible doctors don't let manic-depressive patients stay on Prozac alone. Sometimes they will simply change the prescription. Not everyone who takes prozac is violent. Not everyone who takes prozac is euphoric. Some people who take it simply become less ill with crippling disorders like depression and OCD. Most side effects pale in comparison with these disorders. And most people can tell whether they are hallucinating and know something is wrong if they are. Not everyone should take SSRIs, but on the other hand not everyone should take vitamin and mineral supplements. No book, certainly not this one, is a substitute for a careful evaluation of the facts of an individual case.

Misinformed, silly, outrageous nonsense. The author knows little about the subject and the evidence is very, very weakly supported in this superficial study. Just another inflamatory, cooked up crisis that is grist for the mill of panic.