Prescription for Sorrow: Antidepressants, Suicide and Violence
One could scarcely have been alive and conscious anywhere in the Western world any time in the past twenty-five years and not have been aware of a raging controversy surrounding antidepressants, suicide, and violence—a controversy that shows no sign of abating. During that same period, prescriptions for antidepressants have skyrocketed. So what is the story? Do these drugs drive people to suicide, or do they not? What about homicide? Are they addictive? Do they even help with depression? Author and researcher Patrick D. Hahn has examined the scientific literature and the trial transcripts. He’s listened to doctors and the patients. He’s cross-checked the facts. And now, he has reconstructed the story to tell the truth about how these drugs are made and sold.
Dr. Patrick D. Hahn is an Affiliate Professor of Biology at Loyola University Maryland, USA, and a freelance writer. He has a long-standing interest in iatrogenic harm and the medicalization of everyday life. His first book, Madness and Genetic Determinism: Is Mental Illness in Our Genes?, explores how genetic determinist views of so-called “mental illness” have obscured the well-established role of childhood sexual abuse and other adverse childhood experiences in the genesis of those conditions. His writing on mental health and other issues has appeared in the Baltimore Sun, Mad in America, the Canada Free Press, Natural News Blogs, and other venues.
Advance Praise for Prescription for Sorrow:
“Patrick Hahn’s Prescription for Sorrow gives a compelling account of some of the most tragic mental health events. His touch is sure and the narrative races along. You may find yourself devouring it in one sitting—and then going back for more. Unless you’re definitively on the “other” side before you begin it, you’ll likely find yourself recommending it to others.”
David Healy, co-author, Children of the Cure, author, The Decapitation of Care, Pharmageddon, Let Them Eat Prozac, and The Antidepressant Era. Professor Department of Family Medicine, McMaster University.
“Patrick Hahn’s book, Prescription for Sorrow: Antidepressants, Suicide, and Violence, is a beautifully written page-turner. Despite being considered an expert on antidepressants, I learned much from it and will certainly be citing it in future work. It should be read by every doctor who prescribes these drugs and by anyone who is considering taking one.”
Irving Kirsch, author of The Emperor’s New Drugs
Associate Director of the Program in Placebo Studies at the Harvard Medical School and the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
“A comprehensive and disturbing analysis of possibly the greatest medical scandal of our times. Patrick Hahn leaves no stone unturned in his search for the truth and the guilty parties.”
John Read, editor of Models of Madness
Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of East London
“A startling tale of psychiatric hubris, corporate greed, and media ineptitude, destined to rival Robert Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic as one of the most important books on the rise of antidepressants and societal harm in the twenty-first century.”
Bruce Cohen, author of Psychiatric Hegemony
Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Auckland
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Prescription for Sorrow:
by Patrick D. Hahn
Available in Print or Kindle