Comfortably Numb

Public perceptions of mental health issues have changed dramatically over the last 15 years, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the rampant overmedication of ordinary Americans. Barber explores the ways in which pharmaceutical companies first create the need for a drug and then rush to fill it, and he reveals the increasing pressure Americans are under to medicate themselves. He argues that without an industry to promote them, non-pharmaceutical approaches that could have the...
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Public perceptions of mental health issues have changed dramatically over the last 15 years, and nowhere is this more apparent than in the rampant overmedication of ordinary Americans. Barber explores the ways in which pharmaceutical companies first create the need for a drug and then rush to fill it, and he reveals the increasing pressure Americans are under to medicate themselves. He argues that without an industry to promote them, non-pharmaceutical approaches that could have the potential to help millions are tragically overlooked by a nation that sees drugs as an instant cure for all emotional difficulties. ¿An unprecedented account of the impact of psychiatric medications on American culture and on Americans themselves.¿