Prozac as a Way of Life (Studies in Social Medicine)

by Elliott

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Author: Elliott

Publisher: University of North Carolina Press

Paperback:
ISBN 10: 0807855510
ISBN 13: 978-0807855515

Prozac and its chemical cousins, Paxil, Celexa, and Zoloft, are some of the most profitable and most widely used drugs in America. Their use in the treatment of a multitude of disorders--from generalized anxiety disorder and premenstrual syndrome to eating disorders and sexual compulsions--has provoked a whirlwind of public debate. Talk shows ask, Why is Prozac so popular? What, exactly, do these drugs treat? But sustained critical discussion among bioethicists and medical humanists has been surprisingly absent. The eleven essays in Prozac as a Way of Life provide the groundwork for a much-needed philosophical discussion of the ethical and cultural dimensions of the popularity of SSRI antidepressants. Focusing on the increasing use of medication as a means of self-enhancement, contributors from the fields of psychiatry, psychology, bioethics, and the medical humanities address issues of identity enhancement, the elasticity of psychiatric diagnosis, and the aggressive marketing campaigns of pharmaceutical companies. They do not question the fact that these antidepressants can, in some cases, provide great benefit to alleviate real suffering. What they do question is the abundant popularity of these drugs and that popularity's relationship to American culture and ideas of selfhood. Contributors: Tod Chambers, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago David DeGrazia, George Washington University James C. Edwards, Furman University Carl Elliott, University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics David Healy, University of Wales College of Medicine Laurence J. Kirmayer, McGill University Peter D. Kramer, Brown University Erik Parens, The Hastings Center Lauren Slater, AfterCare Services, Boston Susan Squier, Pennsylvania State University Laurie Zoloth, Northwestern University Center for Genetic Medicine, Chicago

Review

An important contribution to a debate on how one becomes who one is.--Choice

The editors bring together a world-class group of doctors, philosophers, and ethicists to explore the implications of medically enhanced life.--Psychology Today

There is much to chew on in this provocative collection.--New England Journal of Medicine

Review

A truly provocative and unusually coherent collection. The authors engage in real discussion with each other. What emerges is a nuanced understanding of Prozac as a cultural phenomenon and of enhancement technologies as an issue for ethics.--Charles L. Bosk, University of Pennsylvania

Lively essays.-- Chronicle of Higher Education

This book is one of the finest examples of today's interdisciplinary bioethics scholarship. These probing and critical essays connect the cultural controversies about Prozac to a core dilemma of modern life: how to navigate the shifting criteria for 'authenticity' while at the same time nourishing an authentic self.--Paul Brodwin, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee

In this first-rate collection of essays, leading scholars in the medical humanities take a fresh look at the debate surrounding the use of mood-enhancing drugs as a means of self-transformation. Anyone interested in the question of whether spiritual suffering ought to be treated medically will find this fascinating reading.--Hilde Lindemann Nelson, Michigan State University

Elliott and Chambers deserve great credit for helping keep this very necessary conversation alive--and for reminding us of the enormous stakes.--Bill McKibben, author of Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age

From the Inside Flap

In this collection of eleven essays, leading doctors and bioethicists discuss the pros and cons of Prozac and America's culture of self-enhancement.

About the Author

Carl Elliott is associate professor of philosophy and pediatrics at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. His most recent book is Better Than Well: American Medicine Meets the American Dream.

Tod Chambers is associate professor of bioethics and medical humanities at Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine and author of The Fiction of Bioethics: Cases as Literary Texts.

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Prozac as a Way of Life (Studies in Social Medicine)