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Ordinarily well : the case for antidepressants / Peter D. Kramer.

By: Publisher: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2016Edition: First editionDescription: xxii, 310 pages ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780374280673 (hardback)
Subject(s): DDC classification:
  • 615.7/8 23
LOC classification:
  • RM332 .K73 2016
Other classification:
  • PSY036000 | PSY049000
Summary: "Do antidepressants actually work, or are they just glorified dummy pills? How can we tell one way or the other?In Ordinarily Well, the celebrated psychiatrist and author Peter D. Kramer addresses the growing mistrust of antidepressants among the medical establishment and the broader public by taking the long view. He charts the history of the drugs' development and the research that tests their worth, from the Swiss psychiatrist Roland Kuhn's pioneering midcentury discovery of imipramine's antidepressant properties to recent controversial studies suggesting that medications like Prozac and Paxil may be no better than placebos in alleviating symptoms. He unpacks the complex "inside baseball" of psychiatry--statistics--and reveals the fascinating ways that clinical studies and their results can be combined, manipulated, and skewed toward a desired conclusion. All the while, Kramer never loses sight of the patients themselves. He writes with deep empathy about his own clinical encounters over the decades as he weighed treatments, analyzed trial results, and considered the idiosyncrasies each case presented. As Kramer sees it, we must respect human complexity and the value of psychotherapy without denying the truth--that depression is a serious and destructive illness that demands the most effective treatment available"-- Provided by publisher.Summary: "An eminent psychologist and writer discusses the value of antidepressant drugs"-- Provided by publisher.
List(s) this item appears in: Mental Health
Holdings
Item type Current library Shelving location Call number Copy number Status Date due Barcode
Book Book NMC Library Stacks RM332 .K73 2016 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) 1 Available 33039001395879

Includes index.

"Do antidepressants actually work, or are they just glorified dummy pills? How can we tell one way or the other?In Ordinarily Well, the celebrated psychiatrist and author Peter D. Kramer addresses the growing mistrust of antidepressants among the medical establishment and the broader public by taking the long view. He charts the history of the drugs' development and the research that tests their worth, from the Swiss psychiatrist Roland Kuhn's pioneering midcentury discovery of imipramine's antidepressant properties to recent controversial studies suggesting that medications like Prozac and Paxil may be no better than placebos in alleviating symptoms. He unpacks the complex "inside baseball" of psychiatry--statistics--and reveals the fascinating ways that clinical studies and their results can be combined, manipulated, and skewed toward a desired conclusion. All the while, Kramer never loses sight of the patients themselves. He writes with deep empathy about his own clinical encounters over the decades as he weighed treatments, analyzed trial results, and considered the idiosyncrasies each case presented. As Kramer sees it, we must respect human complexity and the value of psychotherapy without denying the truth--that depression is a serious and destructive illness that demands the most effective treatment available"-- Provided by publisher.

"An eminent psychologist and writer discusses the value of antidepressant drugs"-- Provided by publisher.

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