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Things I underlined in my copy of Anatomy of an Epidemic, by Robert Whittaker. (I’ve added bold here for emphasis). ‘Now there may be a number of social factors contributing to the epidemic. Our society may be organised in a way today that leads to a greater degree of stress and emotional turmoil. For instance, we may lack the close-knit neighbourhoods that help people stay well.’ P. 208 ‘…over the course of the next 30 years, researchers determined that the drugs work by perturbing the normal functioning of the neuronal pathways in the brain. In response the brain undergoes ‘compensatory adaptions’ to cope with the drug’s mucking up of its messaging system, and this leaves the brain functioning in an ‘abnormal’ manner. Rather than fix chemical imbalances in the brain, the drugs create them.’ P.207 ‘”I do wonder what might have happened if [at age sixteen] I [a woman] could have just talked to someone, and they could have helped me learn about what I could do on my own to be a healthy person. … my eating problems, and my diet and exercise, and … how to take care of myself. Instead, it was you have this problem with your neurotransmitters … take this pill Zoloft, and when that didn’t work, it was take this pill Prozac, and when that didn’t work, it was take this pill Effexor, and then when I started having trouble sleeping, it was take this sleeping pill,” she says, her voice sounding more wistful than ever. “I am so tired of the pills.”’ P.171 ‘A study conducted by the World Health Organisation … [found it was those] who weren’t exposed to psychotropic medications (whether diagnosed or not) that had the best outcomes. They enjoyed much better ‘general health’ at the end of one year, their depressive symptoms were much milder, and a lower percentage were judged to still be ‘mentally’ ill. The group that suffered most from ‘continued depression’ were the patients treated with an antidepressant.’ P. 165 ‘“I thought that sincere human involvement and understanding were critical to healing interactions,” he [Loren Mosher, schizophrenia doctor] said. “The idea was to treat people as people, as human beings, with dignity and respect.”’ P.102