Anatomy of an Epidemic

Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America

By: Robert Whitaker

Narrated by: Ken Kliban

Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades? Every day, 1,100 adults and children are added to the government disability rolls because they have become newly disabled by mental illness, with this epidemic spreading most rapidly among our nations children. What is going on?

Anatomy of an Epidemic challenges listeners to think through that question themselves. First, Whitaker investigates what is known today about the biological causes of mental disorders. Do psychiatric medications fix chemical imbalances in the brain, or do they, in fact, create them? Researchers spent decades studying that question, and by the late 1980s, they had their answer. Listeners will be startled - and dismayed - to discover what was reported in the scientific journals.

Then comes the scientific query at the heart of this book: During the past 50 years, when investigators looked at how psychiatric drugs affected long-term outcomes, what did they find? Did they discover that the drugs help people stay well? Function better? Enjoy good physical health? Or did they find that these medications, for some paradoxical reason, increase the likelihood that people will become chronically ill, less able to function well, more prone to physical illness?

This is the first book to look at the merits of psychiatric medications through the prism of long-term results. By the end of this review of the outcomes literature, listeners are certain to have a haunting question of their own: Why have the results from these long-term studies - all of which point to the same startling conclusion - been kept from the public?

©2010 Robert Whitaker (P)2010 Audible, Inc.

Critic reviews

"The timing of Robert Whitaker’s Anatomy of an Epidemic, a comprehensive and highly readable history of psychiatry in the United States, couldn’t be better." (Salon.com)

"Anatomy of an Epidemic offers some answers, charting controversial ground with mystery-novel pacing." (TIME.com)

"Whitaker tenderly interviews children and adults who bear witness to the ravages of mental illness, and testify to their newly found 'aliveness' when freed from the prison of mind-numbing drugs." (Daniel Dorman, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, UCLA School of Medicine)

excellent book unfortutnate vocal presentation

For me this text is well worth listening to even if the reader's presentation is extremely annoying and distracting. I use audible to allow me to hear books I do not have the time to read. I knew from the sample that I would not enjoy the readers vocal style but I wanted to have the information so much I bought it and have listened to it multiple times even though the reader's presentation is annoying. Unfortunately the tone and vocal style of the reader required this listener to overcome her annoyance regularly. If you are short of reading time and feel you can get past the readers ridiculous emotional "ham actor" presentation I recommend you buy it and listen to it repeatedly. If the text was not so seriously in need of being heard and if I was not so busy and faced with having limited time to read I would have passed on the audible version of the book without a second thought. The vocal presentation is annoying but the material is worth over coming this annoyance for anyone who is short on reading time. If however you have the time to read it yourself pass this one up and buy the hard copy. I bought the hard copy. All I need now is the time to actually read it. This is a well written text that demands to be read by anyone who is concerned about the very real threat the wide spread use of psychiatric drugs and the current and corrupting psychiatric estimation of our human potential pose to many peoples physical and mental health as well as to their exercise of reason, personal responsibility, and liberty.

amazing book! abominable narration.

the narrator was among the worst I've ever heard! It seemed that he did not understand what he was reading. It seems he did not understand how to read punctuation. I have no idea why in the world this was allowed to be sold in this condition. However, I soldiered through because the book was unbelievably good and Incredibly valuable. I highly recommend it. But not this version

eye opener

some family members have been on the meds Rollercoaster and nothing good came of it. one got tardive dyskonisia. this book should be a mandatory read for all psychologists.
I'm happy to have Audible in my life. I never could have read this book cover to cover and so it sure is nice to have someone read it to me.

Narration

Leaving aside the journalism which has been reviewed enough on this page; I want to point out the reader sounds like a bull frog for the first half hour of this book. I don't know whether my ear adapted or if the producer cleaned up the sound but it did get better. And yes, the author tends to repeat himself a lot. This is a common problem with people trained as journalists, my theory is that it's a left over from the haphazard editing for length done by newspapers.

Eye-opening

This book about the history of psychiatric illness in America has both been eye-opening and disturbing in so many ways. I should’ve known, but had no idea, the scope of the buried research that points to psychotropic medications causing harm. The author gives a very thorough look at the research that is not being publicly shared, as well as many individual stories of patients.

Class Requirement

Had to read this for one of my masters level social work classes. Definitely informative, but repetitive like others said. Overall not a bad read.

I am definitely biased as I am a victim

amazing book and heartbreaking as someone who lived through this horror and continues to live through it . Having experienced much of the issues in the book I am definitely more inclined to believe the narrative the author puts forth as anecdotally it is true for me . well researched and delivered in a pleasing and interesting way . I finished it in less than 3 days . when I looked up criticism of the book which I assumed must be logically strong and plentiful otherwise we would have seen a dramatic shift in the treatment of mental health . I found very little valid hard data scientific criticism . mainly people thought he came to the wrong conclusion but they never claimed he was factually wrong .

Interesting But Repetitive

The information was fascinating. I'll be checking some of the research just to confirm the author's conclusions. There was a mind-numbing amount of repetition.

Paradigm Altering

I bought this based on the high reviews it received on audible and I was not disappointed. As a book geek with four undergraduate degrees and working on my second masters, it is not very often that I am told something I don't already know but this book totally blew my mind. The brilliance of it lies in Whitaker's meticulous research and presentation. The basic thesis is: psychiatric drugs are largely marketing ploys, not science. This is a bold crazy claim, but by the time you are halfway through the book and have heard hundreds of snippets of the outcomes literature from big pharma's horse's mouth (and heard from eight major sources that no one has ever been able to provide evidence of a "chemical imbalance" occurring in the brain), you aren't just convinced, you are utterly terrified at what the future will hold for the next generation, all growing up right now on these noxious drugs. As someone getting their master's in psych, I purchased the book after listening to it, as it is the most relevant reading I have done so far in my studies.

If you or anyone you know is on, has taken, or has ever considered taking medication for depression, anxiety, bipolar, schizophrenia, or ADHD, or you plan on living in this country for the next 20-40 years, you really owe it to yourself to read this book. It will light a fire.

A Frightening Reality

An eye opening read through the history of antipsychotic and antidepression medications over the course of time in America. A must read for those contemplating medication for themselves or a loved one.