Blue Dreams: The Science and the Story of the Drugs that Changed Our Minds
Autor Lauren Slateren Limba Engleză Paperback – 4 feb 2019
"Capacious
and
rigorous
.
.
.Blue
Dreams,
like
all
good
histories
of
medicine,
reveals
healing
to
be
art
as
much
as
science."
--Parul
Sehgal,New
York
Times
"Terrific."
--@MichaelPollan
"Ambitious...Slater's
depictions
of
madness
are
terrifying
and
fascinating."
--USA
Today
"A
vivid
and
thought-provoking
synthesis."
--Harper's
Although one in five Americans now takes at least one psychotropic drug, the fact remains that nearly seventy years after doctors first began prescribing them, not even their creators understand exactly how or why these drugs work--or don't work--on what ails our brains.Blue Dreamsoffers the explosive story of the discovery and development of psychiatric medications, as well as the science and the people behind their invention, told by a riveting writer and psychologist who shares her own experience with the highs and lows of psychiatric drugs.
Lauren
Slater's
revelatory
account
charts
psychiatry's
journey
from
its
earliest
drugs,
Thorazine
and
lithium,
up
through
Prozac
and
other
major
antidepressants
of
the
present.Blue
Dreamsalso
chronicles
experimental
treatments
involving
Ecstasy,
magic
mushrooms,
the
most
cutting-edge
memory
drugs,
placebos,
and
even
neural
implants.
In
her
thorough
analysis
of
each
treatment,
Slater
asks
three
fundamental
questions:
how
was
the
drug
born,
how
does
it
work
(or
fail
to
work),
and
what
does
it
reveal
about
the
ailments
it
is
meant
to
treat?
Fearlessly
weaving
her
own
intimate
experiences
into
comprehensive
and
wide-ranging
research,
Slater
narrates
a
personal
history
of
psychiatry
itself.
In
the
process,
her
powerful
and
groundbreaking
exploration
casts
modern
psychiatry's
ubiquitous
wonder
drugs
in
a
new
light,
revealing
their
ability
to
heal
us
or
hurt
us,
and
proving
an
indispensable
resource
not
only
for
those
with
a
psychotropic
prescription
but
for
anyone
who
hopes
to
understand
the
limits
of
what
we
know
about
the
human
brain
and
the
possibilities
for
future
treatments.
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Specificații
ISBN-13: 9780316370622
ISBN-10: 0316370622
Pagini: 416
Dimensiuni: 140 x 210 x 32 mm
Greutate: 0.34 kg
Editura: Little, Brown and Company
Colecția Back Bay Books
ISBN-10: 0316370622
Pagini: 416
Dimensiuni: 140 x 210 x 32 mm
Greutate: 0.34 kg
Editura: Little, Brown and Company
Colecția Back Bay Books
Notă biografică
Lauren
Slater
is
the
author
ofWelcome
to
My
Country,
Prozac
Diary,
Lying:
A
Metaphorical
Memoir,
andOpening
Skinner's
Box,
among
other
books.
She
has
received
numerous
awards,
including
a
National
Endowment
for
the
Arts
fellowship,
and
a
Knight
Science
Journalism
Fellowship
at
MIT.Opening
Skinner's
Boxwas
nominated
for
best
science
writing
by
theLos
Angeles
Times,
and
her
work
has
been
reprinted
numerous
times
inThe
Best
American
Essays.
She
lives
on
a
farm
in
Fitchburg,
Massachusetts.
Recenzii
"In
herinformative
and
detailednew
book,Blue
Dreams,
Lauren
Slater
traces
the
meandering,
mercurial
history
of
psychiatric
drug
discovery...She
is
at
her
most
prescient
when
discussing
Prozac,
from
its
initial
promise
to
its
saturation
of
American
culture...Slater
also
helps
to
further
debunk
the
'chemical
imbalance'
myth
of
mental
illness,
citing
'the
paucity
of
evidence'
supporting
the
role
of
neurotransmitters
in
depression...The
most
moving
and
ultimately
most
compelling
parts
ofBlue
Dreamsare
those
where
Slater
recounts
her
harrowing
history
of
drug
treatment
for
bipolar
illness.Here
she
illuminates
the
long-term
physical
effects
of
these
medications,
a
subject
rarely
addressed
in
the
psychiatrist's
office...Slater
wisely
points
out
that
anyone
who
ingests
a
pill
for
the
treatment
of,
say,
depression
or
anxiety
or
psychosis
is
essentially
introducing
a
foreign
substance
into
the
brain.
And
yet,
she
goes
on
to
say,
what
would
you
have
people
with
a
serious
mental
illness
do?
There
are
surely
untold
numbers
of
those
who,
without
the
benefit
of
a
drug
for
their
mental
illness,
would
be
dead.
Slater
considers
herself
one
of
them.In
details
both
lyrical
and
crushingly
painful,
Slater
describes
her
lifelong
struggle
with
what
Winston
Churchill
called
the
'black
dog'
of
depression.There
is
the
nightmarish
daydream
of
a
sun
that
burns
day
and
night,
that
never
sets,
leaving
her
'trapped
in
a
white
hysterical
light.'...Blue
Dreamsis
a
raw
and
honest
memoir,
and
frankly
one
of
the
few
that
show
the
truly
dark
side
of
medication--even
as
that
medication
saves
lives."—Amy
Ellis
Nutt,Washington
Post
"Striking. . . Slater, a writer and psychologist, takes a skeptical yet compassionateapproach to the history of psychopharmacology, one shaped by her own experienceas a patient . . .Blue Dreamsis a vivid and thought-provokingsynthesis."—Lidija Haas,Harper's
"Poignant and lyrical...Slater's experience makes her a convincing travel guide into the history, creation and future of psychotropics."—Maggie Jones,New York Times Book Review
"Ambitious...Slater understands neuroscience in far greater detail than the average patient. This allows her to bounce between first-person narrative and historical survey... Her depictions of madness are terrifying and fascinating--she vividly details her own mental breakdown with bracing candor--and she brings something new to a well-worn genre...Blue Dreamsprovides a useful entry point for patients with mental illness and their families, and fills in many of the gaps that doctors fail to address in the course of a routine consultation--and does so with uncommon honesty."—Matt McCarthy,USA Today
"Slater has taken many psychiatric drugs overthirty-five years, and in this engagingly personal book, she explores thesuccess and the side effects they engender."—Tom Beer,Newsday
"Slater suggests that it's tempting--but wrong--to think of modern medicine as a system of elegant cures that have replaced the crude treatments of the past. In psychiatry, she says, the latest techniques aren't necessarily better than the older ones."—JM Olejarz,Harvard Business Review
"With the experience of a patient, the heart of astoryteller, and the lens of a scientist, Lauren Slater chronicles theevolving, perplexing relationship between the physical and the mental."—David Eagleman,New York Times bestselling author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain and host of PBS's The Brain
"A profoundand essential look at a phenomenon of our times. Meticulously researched,BlueDreamsis also a deeply moving personal investigation into the drugs somany of us rely upon for our survival. Lauren Slater is much more than atrusted guide: she's a brave and eloquent companion who doesn't shy away fromcontroversy. You'll be talking and thinking aboutBlue Dreamslong afteryou've read it."—Terri Cheney,New York Times bestselling author of Manic
"Thought-provoking...Enlightening...In this ambitious undertaking, Slater applies vigorous research and intimate reflection to the issues involved with treating mental suffering...Ultimately, the author finds great hope...A highly compelling assessment of the role of psychotropic drugs in the treatment of mental-health issues."—Kirkus Reviews
"Weaving together thehistory of psychopharmacology and her personal experience as a patient, Slateroffers readers a candid and compelling glimpse at life on psychiatric drugs andthe science behind them . . . Intriguing and instructive."—Tony Miksanek,Booklist
"Slater offers many insights here, and her moving personal story truly illuminates the triumphs and shortcomings of psychotropic drugs."—Publishers Weekly
"Mixing memoir, history, and medical reporting, she brings a deep appreciation of all the hope that has gone into these drugs, both among those who make them and those who take them."—Ben Kafka,Bookforum
Praise for Lauren Slater
"Brutallyhonest and brave . . . Slater reminds us that a writer's true gift--andpower--lies in the ability to generously turn what seems like a specificexperience into a universal one."—Entertainment Weekly
"The closest thing we have to a doyenne of psychiatric disorder."—Village Voice
"The beauty of LaurenSlater's prose is shocking . . . Slater's vision is, ultimately, one of unityand possibility."—Claire Messud, Newsday
"Smart, charming, iconoclastic, and inquisitive."—Peter Kramer, author of Listening to Prozac
"Engaging,provocative, and even fun."—New England Journal of Medicine
"Striking. . . Slater, a writer and psychologist, takes a skeptical yet compassionateapproach to the history of psychopharmacology, one shaped by her own experienceas a patient . . .Blue Dreamsis a vivid and thought-provokingsynthesis."—Lidija Haas,Harper's
"Poignant and lyrical...Slater's experience makes her a convincing travel guide into the history, creation and future of psychotropics."—Maggie Jones,New York Times Book Review
"In
this
gonzo
examination
of
the
messy
history
and
brave
future
of
psychotropic
drugs,
writer
and
psychologist
Slater
sifts
through
the
remedies
one
in
five
Americans
relies
on
but
knows
little
about--even
breaking
into
an
abandoned
asylum
in
her
quest."
—Natalie
Beach,O
Magazine"Ambitious...Slater understands neuroscience in far greater detail than the average patient. This allows her to bounce between first-person narrative and historical survey... Her depictions of madness are terrifying and fascinating--she vividly details her own mental breakdown with bracing candor--and she brings something new to a well-worn genre...Blue Dreamsprovides a useful entry point for patients with mental illness and their families, and fills in many of the gaps that doctors fail to address in the course of a routine consultation--and does so with uncommon honesty."—Matt McCarthy,USA Today
"Slater has taken many psychiatric drugs overthirty-five years, and in this engagingly personal book, she explores thesuccess and the side effects they engender."—Tom Beer,Newsday
"Slater suggests that it's tempting--but wrong--to think of modern medicine as a system of elegant cures that have replaced the crude treatments of the past. In psychiatry, she says, the latest techniques aren't necessarily better than the older ones."—JM Olejarz,Harvard Business Review
"With the experience of a patient, the heart of astoryteller, and the lens of a scientist, Lauren Slater chronicles theevolving, perplexing relationship between the physical and the mental."—David Eagleman,New York Times bestselling author of Incognito: The Secret Lives of the Brain and host of PBS's The Brain
"A profoundand essential look at a phenomenon of our times. Meticulously researched,BlueDreamsis also a deeply moving personal investigation into the drugs somany of us rely upon for our survival. Lauren Slater is much more than atrusted guide: she's a brave and eloquent companion who doesn't shy away fromcontroversy. You'll be talking and thinking aboutBlue Dreamslong afteryou've read it."—Terri Cheney,New York Times bestselling author of Manic
"Thought-provoking...Enlightening...In this ambitious undertaking, Slater applies vigorous research and intimate reflection to the issues involved with treating mental suffering...Ultimately, the author finds great hope...A highly compelling assessment of the role of psychotropic drugs in the treatment of mental-health issues."—Kirkus Reviews
"Weaving together thehistory of psychopharmacology and her personal experience as a patient, Slateroffers readers a candid and compelling glimpse at life on psychiatric drugs andthe science behind them . . . Intriguing and instructive."—Tony Miksanek,Booklist
"Slater offers many insights here, and her moving personal story truly illuminates the triumphs and shortcomings of psychotropic drugs."—Publishers Weekly
"Mixing memoir, history, and medical reporting, she brings a deep appreciation of all the hope that has gone into these drugs, both among those who make them and those who take them."—Ben Kafka,Bookforum
Praise for Lauren Slater
"Anenormously
poetic
and
ebullient
writer."
—Elle"Slateris
more
poet
than
narrator,
more
philosopher
than
psychologist,
more
artistthan
doctor
.
.
.
Every
page
brims
with
beautifully
rendered
images
ofthoughts,
feelings,
emotional
states."
—San
Francisco
Chronicle"Brutallyhonest and brave . . . Slater reminds us that a writer's true gift--andpower--lies in the ability to generously turn what seems like a specificexperience into a universal one."—Entertainment Weekly
"The closest thing we have to a doyenne of psychiatric disorder."—Village Voice
"The beauty of LaurenSlater's prose is shocking . . . Slater's vision is, ultimately, one of unityand possibility."—Claire Messud, Newsday
"Smart, charming, iconoclastic, and inquisitive."—Peter Kramer, author of Listening to Prozac
"Engaging,provocative, and even fun."—New England Journal of Medicine