Concluding a Review of Breggin's Antidepressant Fact Book

I would like to finish up my review of the claims made by Peter Breggin in The Antidepressant Fact Book.

1."'Antidepressants aren't in any way similar to stimulants like amphetamine and cocaine.'

This claim is irrelevant. Amphetamines and antidepressants are generally accepted to be similar but certainly not the same. This is not a problem. Currently, certain stimulants, such as Adderall, are prescribed for ADHD. Stimulants may sound scary due to their relation to cocaine and methamphetamine but they are not all created equal. Some are more dangerous and some have legitimate medical functions. In fact, in some cases, stimulants have proved effective in treating atypical depressive mood disorders, such as the intense fatigue and anergia of some cancer patients. In these cases, MAOIs are also effective but curiously tricyclic antidepressants are not. The response of certain patients to certain antidepressants is not fully understood at this time, but the similarity to some amphetamines does not make them medically illegitimate. This claim seems to me to hide a critique of all psychiatric drugs, something that I would not stand by, but that Breggin seems to accept as automatically valid.

2."'Antidepressants don't cause cause withdrawal problems; you can stop them without any ill effects.'

Antidepressants are liable to cause withdrawal if a patient abruptly stops consuming them. This is something that I can say from personal experience that doctors are upfront about. When I was prescribed an SSRI for anxiety, I was informed that if I stopped taking it suddenly, I may experience ill effects and that I ought to discuss it with my doctor before I stopped taking the medicine. In general, it is a good policy to discuss it with your doctor before you stop taking any prescribed medicine. Furthermore, the Mayo Clinic lists antidepressant discontinuation syndrome symptoms as "irritability, anxiety, insomnia, headaches, dizziness, fatigue, nausea and continuation of depression symptoms." These are neither life-threatening side effects nor are they particularly surprising. Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome can be combated by having your doctor give you smaller an smaller doses of the medicine rather than abruptly stopping it. The presence of withdrawal effects alone is not sufficient to make antidepressants dangerous or ineffective.

3."'Antidepressants can't make you psychotic unless you have a preexisting mental illness'"

This claim is the most serious of all of these, in my opinion. I have found claims that adverse effects from psychiatric drugs have resulted in mania, murder, violent thought, and commitment to mental institutions. I have read testimonies that people taking antidepressants began to have symptoms of psychosis shortly after they began taking them. And yet no where have I found a reliable source that can make a clear causal connection between the ingestion of an antidepressant and the occurrence of a violent crime. It has been claimed that the shooters in Columbine and a variety of other mass shootings were taking certain antidepressants, mainly SSRIs. However, this is neither confirmed nor does it seem to me very convincing. Is it not possible that those that are highly depressed, if on the wrong antidepressant and not being helped by it, would be more likely to commit a violent crime in the first place? Are the claims that the antidepressants were responsible possibly attempts at rationalizing an evil which people fear and do not want to recognize as originating from a person himself? On this claim, I am not yet sure what to think. I tend to be skeptical that a drug can "make" a person commit a violent crime but I will review this more when I read Breggin's book that focuses more directly on this topic.


Hall-Flavin, Daniel K. "Antidepressant Withdrawal: Is There Such a Thing?" Mayo Clinic. Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research, 10 Sept. 2010. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/antidepressant-withdrawal/AN01425>.

 Ellinwood, Everett H., George King, and Tong H. Lee. "Chronic Amphetamine Use and Abuse." Home. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://www.acnp.org/g4/gn401000166/ch162.htm>.

"Psychiatric Information." Antidepressant Side Effects Cause Psychosis Archive. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://www.psychiatry.info/psychiatrists-in-the-news/antidepressant-side-effects-cause-psychosis/>.

 Take This Antidepressant, and You Too May Have a Violent Psychotic Break. Web. 03 Mar. 2012. <http://www.anh-usa.org/take-this-antidepressant-and-you-too-may-have-a-violent-psychotic-break/>.