Listening to Prozac

( 4 )

Overview

THE END OF PERSONALITY?

Since it was introduce in 1987, the antidepressant Prozac has been prescribed to nearly five million Americans. But what is Prozac? Reported to turn shy people into social butterflies and to improve work performance, memory, even dexterity, Prozac has changed millions of troubled lives -- but not without raising troubling questions of interest to anyone who has ever tried to improve his or her life.

Is Prozac a ...

See more details below
Audiobook (MP3 - Abridged)    
A reading or performance of a book on a digital file, which can be downloaded to a computer or MP3 player. After you purchase your first Audiobook MP3 from Barnes & Noble.com, you must download and install the Media Console. http://www.barnesandnoble.com/help/cds2.asp?PID=27416&cds2Pid=27388
$9.08
BN.com price
(Save 17%)$10.95 List Price
Sending request ...

More About This Book

Overview

THE END OF PERSONALITY?

Since it was introduce in 1987, the antidepressant Prozac has been prescribed to nearly five million Americans. But what is Prozac? Reported to turn shy people into social butterflies and to improve work performance, memory, even dexterity, Prozac has changed millions of troubled lives -- but not without raising troubling questions of interest to anyone who has ever tried to improve his or her life.

Is Prozac a medication, or a mental steroid...a cure for illness, or a chemical agent for cosmetic character change? In many cases, Prozac can make people more attractive, energetic and socially acceptable -- whether they're "ill" or not. But when a pill can appear to accomplish the work of countless therapy sessions, seminars and self-help books and tapes, have we entered an age where pharmacological advances could make our notions of character, personality and selfhood obsolete?

In the bestselling tradition of The Man Who Mistook His Wife for His Hat, psychiatrist Peter Kramer reads his bestselling, critically acclaimed exploration of these and other issues that sparked a national debate. Drawing on both dramatic case studies and the perceptions of a uniquely insightful thinker contemplating a cultural crossroads, Listening to Prozac will forever change the way you think of the human condition.

"...addresses the debate about whether Prozac is an effective anti-depressant or simply a cosmetic drug that changes people's moods...examines the criticisms & controversies as well as the praise its use has generated."

Read More Show Less

Editorial Reviews

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly
Tracing the development of mood-altering drugs, in particular the widely used antidepressant Prozac, psychiatrist Kramer ( Moments of Engagement ) synthesizes recent biochemical research, psychological and biosocial theories in a comprehensive, provocative study. Citing cases from his practice and the conclusions of such researchers as Donald Klein, Jerome Kagan and Robert Post, among others, he examines current thinking about what determines personality traits and character. Observing the effectiveness of Prozac in releasing confidence and energy in patients who are somewhat inhibited by depression, compulsiveness or timidity, he raises important questions about the way drugs can influence diagnoses. He sees application of medication as particularly valuable in cases where a patient's symptoms become functionally autonomous, appearing independent of their originating stimuli. Calling for an approach that combines psychotherapy with psychopharmacology, Kramer urges careful, studied use of Prozac with continuing attention given to the philosophical, moral and sociological issues its effectiveness raises. (June)
Library Journal
Kramer, a practicing psychiatrist, finds that the antidepressant Prozac is a powerful drug that lifts the veil of depression from most patients without significant side effects. While he unquestionably supports the use of medication to alleviate illness, he questions using drugs to make a person feel ``better than well.'' It is the remarkable ability of Prozac to create personality changes that he finds disturbing. Is it ethical to prescribe a drug that increases a person's self-confidence, resilience, and energy level without any ill effect, when there is no underlying manifestation of illness? What is the essence of personhood and what are the philosophical implications of using drugs to alter personality? Both Kramer's unequivocal endorsement of Prozac for the treatment of depression and the questions he raises about the use of drugs for mood alteration are controversial. A glossary would have been a useful addition for lay readers. Recommended.-- Carol R. Glatt, VA Medical Ctr. Lib., Philadelphia
Booknews
Kramer (psychiatry, Brown U.) writes on "the capacity of modern medication to allow a person to experience, on a stable and continuing basis, the feelings of someone with a different temperament and history," as "one born with a different genome and exposed to a more benign world in childhood"--p.195. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
Kirkus Reviews
A provocative volume that sets up the mood-altering Prozac as a tool to examine the growing—and often troubling—use of drugs in the treatment of psychological illness. Brown University professor Kramer (Moments of Engagement, 1989—not reviewed) is a practicing psychiatrist who uses traditional techniques of therapy but also prescribes Prozac and other psychopharmaceuticals for his patients when they seem appropriate. Thanks to exposure on TV talk shows, Prozac is associated in many people's minds with suicide and violence, but only in the last chapter here—an appendix, really—does the author argue directly against these charges. What he explores instead are the far-reaching implications of the generally positive changes in temperament triggered by Prozac and other drugs prescribed to relieve anxiety and depression, and what these medications have taught us about how character and temperament are shaped. Prozac relieves mild depression, for instance, by elevating levels of serotonin in the brain. Knowledge of that fact opens the door to further investigation of chemical pathways in the brain, individual variations in levels of serotonin and other neurotransmitters, and perhaps even to early diagnosis and treatment of mood disorders. But, as Kramer points out, it also opens the possibility of altering brain chemistry to order, perhaps transforming a shy, sensitive individual into a sociable, assertive personality—the kind that present society most values. Acquisition of such a temperament, in fact, is the effect that Prozac has on many of Kramer's patients. But what has been lost when sensitivity is replaced by assertiveness? What is the "real" personality?Such thoughtful questioning is supported throughout by case histories and meaty reports on recent research. Some of the material suggests that if Freud was wrong about the content of childhood trauma (the Oedipal attachments), he was not wrong about its far-reaching effects. A wise and unflinching examination of the ramifications for society—and for the individual—when the capsule replaces the couch.
Read More Show Less

Product Details

  • ISBN-13: 9780743549783
  • Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
  • Publication date: 4/1/1994
  • Format: MP3
  • Edition description: Abridged
  • Ships to U.S.and APO/FPO addresses only.

Table of Contents

Introduction
1 Makeover 1
2 Compulsion 22
3 Antidepressants 47
4 Sensitivity 67
5 Stress 108
6 Risk 144
7 Formes Frustes: Low Self-Esteem 197
8 Formes Frustes: Inhibition of Pleasure, Sluggishness of Thought 223
9 The Message in the Capsule 250
App Violence 301
Afterword to the 1997 edition 315
Notes 333
Acknowledgments 397
Index 400
Read More Show Less

Customer Reviews

Average Rating 3
( 4 )
Rating Distribution

5 Star

(1)

4 Star

(0)

3 Star

(2)

2 Star

(0)

1 Star

(1)

Your Rating:

Review Guidelines
Add Recommendations
Your Name: Create a Pen Name or

Barnes & Noble.com Review Rules

Our reader reviews allow you to share your comments on titles you liked, or didn't, with others. By submitting an online review, you are representing to Barnes & Noble.com that all information contained in your review is original and accurate in all respects, and that the submission of such content by you and the posting of such content by Barnes & Noble.com does not and will not violate the rights of any third party. Please follow the rules below to help ensure that your review can be posted.

Reviews by Our Customers Under the Age of 13

We highly value and respect everyone's opinion concerning the titles we offer. However, we cannot allow persons under the age of 13 to have accounts at BN.com or to post customer reviews. Please see our Terms of Use for more details.

What to exclude from your review:

Please do not write about reviews, commentary, or information posted on the product page. If you see any errors in the information on the product page, please send us an email.

Reviews should not contain any of the following:

  • - HTML tags, profanity, obscenities, vulgarities, or comments that defame anyone
  • - Time-sensitive information such as tour dates, signings, lectures, etc.
  • - Single-word reviews. Other people will read your review to discover why you liked or didn't like the title. Be descriptive.
  • - Comments focusing on the author or that may ruin the ending for others
  • - Phone numbers, addresses, URLs
  • - Pricing and availability information or alternative ordering information
  • - Advertisements or commercial solicitation

Reminder:

  • - By submitting a review, you grant to Barnes & Noble.com and its sublicensees the royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable right and license to use the review in accordance with the Barnes & Noble.com Terms of Use.
  • - Barnes & Noble.com reserves the right not to post any review -- particularly those that do not follow the terms and conditions of these Rules. Barnes & Noble.com also reserves the right to remove any review at any time without notice.
  • - See Terms of Use for other conditions and disclaimers.
Search for Products You'd Like to Recommend

Recommend other products that relate to your review. Just search for them below and share!

Create a Pen Name

Your Pen Name is your unique identity on BN.com. It will appear on the reviews you write and other website activities. Your Pen Name cannot be edited, changed or deleted once submitted.

 
Your Pen Name can be any combination of alphanumeric characters (plus - and _), and must be at least two characters long.

Continue Anonymously
    If you find inappropriate content, please report it to Barnes & Noble
    Why is this product inappropriate?
    Comments (optional)