Table of Contents

The Disease Centred Model of Drug Action in Psychiatry An Alternative Drug Centred Model of Drug Action Physical Treatments and the Disease Centred Model The Arrival of the New Drugs and the Influence of Interest Groups The Birth of the Idea of an 'Antipsychotic' Are Neuroleptics Effective and Specific? A Review of the Evidence What do Neuroleptics Really Do? A Drug Centred Approach The Construction of the 'Antidepressant' Is There Such a Thing as an Antidepressant? A Review of the Evidence What do Antidepressants Really Do? The Idea of Special Drugs for Manic Depression Evidence on the Action of Lithium and Mood Stabilisers Democratic Drug Treatment: Implications of the Drug Centred Model The Myth of the Chemical Cure

About the Author

Joanna Moncrieff is a Senior Lecturer at University College London, UK and a practising consultant psychiatrist. She is co-chair person of the Critical Psychiatry Network and author of The Myth of the Chemical Cure.

Reviews

Shortlisted for the 2009 Mind Book of the Year 'A revolutionary book written with the calm assurance of someone who knows her subject matter and the people involved - extremely well. Essential reading for anyone interested in mental health.' - Dorothy Rowe, www.dorothyrowe.com.au 'This is a sober and thoughtful book. I found it very engaging and worth the effort to be better informed about a subject that affects many of our clients and impinges on our professional lives as therapists.' - Existential Analysis (Society for Existential Analysis) '...Joanna Moncrieff, a practising psychiatrist and academic, has produced a devastating critique of the use of psychiatric drugs...This courageous book has the potential to revolutionise psychiatric practice and the care of people with many forms of mental distress. Many in the therapy professions will, I am sure, celebrate its message.' - Rachel Freeth, Therapy Today 'This book does what it says on the cover. It is a concise, powerful, well-referenced and well-constructed critique of psychiatric drug treatment...If I had the power to, I would make it essential reading on all counselling and psychotherapy trainings.' - Pete Sanders, Healthcare Counselling and Psychotherapy Journal 'It should be compulsory reading for any person who thinks that people's behaviours and experiences are caused by chemical imbalances in their brain and that psychiatric medications treat these imbalances psychiatrists, other professionals and people who are taking or considering taking these drugs...Read and share the book and speak out .come on - the emperor has no clothes!' - Guy Holmes, Journal of Critical Psychology, Counselling and Psychotherapy 'This remarkable book should be required reading...as the author exposes misconceptions and assumptions about biological mental illness...[it] is far from one-sided, and argues that rather than discarding drugs we should use them properly and concentrate on their effects rather than upon traditional but ultimately unscientific assumptions.' - Stuart Sorensen, Community Care 'This is a book that should change psychiatry forever.' Mental Health