I have decided that now and again I am going to suggest a book that may be of interest.
I was prompted to do this by receiving an email from a person asking for a good book on the topic of medication. I was then permitted to answer this request broadly here.
My personal favourite is ‘The myth of chemical cure. A critique of psychiatric drug treatment.’ by Joanna Moncrieff.
It’s easily available from online stores.
Why do I like this book so much?
Let’s start with the fact that Joanna Moncrieff exposes the traditional misconception that psychiatric drugs treat underlying ‘chemical imbalances’ or ‘diseases’ and explains exactly why we think that. Anybody who at this point wants to argue or send me a nasty, angry comment, you are welcome to do so, but I would suggest that first you read this book.
Moreover, it explains exactly how antipsychotics, antidepressants, mood stabilisers and stimulants work and what they do to the individual’s mental and physical functioning.
This is not a bash on the medication in general. Rather, it exposes that drugs can be utilised in a better way. For example, medication should be given in order to help a patient to get to therapy, to work through their problems in order to get better, rather as a quick fix that never alleviates the issues but just masks them.
This is all from me today, but for those interested in this topic I also suggest Louis Theroux’s ’America’s Medicated Kids’.
