Every society has found its own methods to abuse its most vulnerable members: children; women; the elderly; ethnic, racial and religious minorities; the poor; the mentally distressed or distressing; the physically disabled; those with unconventional lifestyles. All of these have been widely abused and all remain victims of abuse to varying degrees in societies throughout the world.
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I am best known from my critiques of biological, mechanistic psychiatry with its cookie-cutter diagnoses and brain-disabling drugs and shock treatment. Establishment and institutional psychiatry can be like a dark shadow that crowds out the light. Even as we grow in awareness of the harm perpetrated by biological psychiatry, we need more focus on the light — on the life-giving principles that have moved me and so many others to take up the cause of reform in psychiatry and psychotherapy. These underlying principles try to capture what is good and important in human relationships beginning with empathy, love and respect for each individual’s unique life.
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The FDA Continues to Affirm Antidepressant Risks First Identified in my 1991 Book Toxic Psychiatry By Peter R. Breggin, M.D. Ithaca, New York www.breggin.com In 2004 the FDA issued a black box warning about the increased risk of suicidality in children taking the newer antidepressants, including the SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, and […]
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Dr. Peter Breggin’s new concept of medication spellbinding provides insights into why so many people take psychiatric drugs when the drugs are doing more harm than good. Psychiatric drugs, and all other drugs that affect the mind, spellbind the individual by masking their adverse mental effects from the individual taking the drugs. If the […]
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Latest News Something we can all agree on In this highly politicized season, is there something we can all agree upon? I think so. From the political left or right, we should be able to come together around the idea that it’s bad […]
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Principles for the Elimination of Restraint An ICSPP Report Prepared by Peter R. Breggin, M.D., Director for The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Health Care Organizations This report is offered in response to the Joint Commission’s request of February 18, 1999 for ICSPP’s recommendations on “restraint use and therapeutic holding.” This report focuses on two […]
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By Peter R. Breggin, M.D. Ithaca, New York In 2004 the FDA issued a black box warning about the increased risk of suicidality in children taking the newer antidepressants, including the SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, and Lexapro) and also Effexor and Wellbutrin (also marketed as Zyban). On June 30, 2005 the FDA […]
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Psychiatric drug side effects and adverse reactions The following brief summaries of adverse drug reactions are very abbreviated and merely hint at the widespread and potentially devastating side effects associated with all psychiatric medications. For a more thorough examination of neurological and psychological side effects, please consult Dr. Breggin’s books, listed below. Selective Serotonin […]
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In 2004 the FDA issued a black box warning about the increased risk of suicidality in children taking the newer antidepressants, including the SSRIs (Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Luvox, Celexa, and Lexapro) and also Effexor and Wellbutrin (also marketed as Zyban). On June 30, 2005 the FDA published a Public Health Advisory warning of the possibility of increased suicidality in adults treated with antidepressants. The FDA followed this on July 1, 2005 with a Talk Paper elaborating on the potential risk and the agency’s plans to study the problem further.
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