Page 82 - Winter2014

All Thumbs Book Reviews

Anatomy of an Epidemic: To set the stage, in tandem with the intro-
Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the duction of this drug, the passage of the 1951
Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America Durham-Humphrey Amendment gave physi-
by Robert Whitaker cians monopolistic prescribing rights. Until this
Broadway Books, 2011 law, there was no requirement that any drug
be labeled for sale by prescription only. The
In 2010 Robert Whitaker, experienced Durham-Humphrey amendment requires any
science and history writer, won the coveted drug that is habit-forming or potentially harm-
Investigative Reporters and Editors Award for ful to be dispensed under the supervision of a
“best investigative journalism” with this stun- health practitioner as a prescription drug and
ning, richly documented and researched review must carry the statement "Caution: Federal law
of the rise of psychiatric drugs and their actual prohibits dispensing without a prescription." For
efficacy in treating mental illness. In this book the first time two mortal enemies, the medical
Whitaker, also author of Mad in America, takes profession and pharmaceutical companies, were
a hard and critical look at psychiatric medica- on the same side.
tions over the history of the profession. He lifts Before this drug came along, psychiatrists or
the curtain for general readers to peer into this “asylum doctors” as the first such practitioners
uncertain world and decide for themselves: Do were called, had little use for the prescription pad
psychotropic drugs heal or harm? because they had no drugs to prescribe. And ex-
Our nation has been hit by an epidemic of cept for lobotomy (which was largely condemned
disabling mental illnesses, which began after after World War II) there were no surgical pro-
the introduction of Thorazine, the trade name cedures to perform. According to the profession,
for chlorpromazine, in 1954. Thorazine was the Thorazine “initiated a revolution in psychiatry”
first specific psychiatric drug: a first generation and gave this specialty some legitimacy. At last
(the first of its kind) anti-psychotic used to treat the “asylum doctors” had metamorphosed into
schizophrenia. Chlorpromazine works on a va- psychiatrists who prescribed drugs specific for
riety of receptors in the central nervous system, mental diseases.
producing potent anticholinergic, antidopaminer- In 1955, there were over three hundred
gic, antihistaminic, and antiadrenergic effects. fifty thousand adults housed in state and county
Patients taking this drug likened its effects to mental hospitals in this country. Although the
those of lobotomy. state and county mental hospitals were on the

Mad in America, continued from page 77. describe Mad in America as “disturbing,” “heart-
After reading this book, one cannot help but be deeply moved. Read- breaking,” “shocking,” “gruesome,” “incredibly
ers may question how such treatments were sanctioned and performed, useful,” “important,” “best non-fiction book,”
not once, but thousands of times, on innocent, ill people. How could we in “mind-blowing,” “well-researched” and “a wake-
2014 not judge the treatments of the mentally ill in the past as contrivances up call.” University professors have chosen this
of those who were mad themselves? Genuine Bedlam. book as a review project for their classes and it
Remember, the worst practices were occuring when Dr. Price wrote can be found in academic libraries throughout the
Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, in which he bravely argued that country, but psychiatrists have called it “venom”
mental illness was not the result of genetics but of poor nutrition. When, and “a general attack on psychiatry.”
oh when, will the psychiatrists realize that people who are mad are people You be the judge. I give this book a well-
whose brains are starving? deserved thumbs up.
Of the over nine hundred ratings on “Good Reads,” the majority Review by Sylvia P. Onusic, PhD, CNS, LDN
78 Wise Traditions WINTER 2014 Wise Traditions

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