Mad in America

Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and the Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill

By: Robert Whitaker

Narrated by: Chris Kayser, Timothy Andrés Pabon

An updated edition of the classic history of schizophrenia in America, which gives voice to generations of patients who suffered through "cures" that only deepened their suffering and impaired their hope of recovery

Schizophrenics in the United States currently fare worse than patients in the world's poorest countries. In Mad in America, medical journalist Robert Whitaker argues that modern treatments for the severely mentally ill are just old medicine in new bottles, and that we as a society are deeply deluded about their efficacy.
The widespread use of lobotomies in the 1920s and 1930s gave way in the 1950s to electroshock and a wave of new drugs. In what is perhaps Whitaker's most damning revelation, Mad in America examines how drug companies in the 1980s and 1990s skewed their studies to prove that new antipsychotic drugs were more effective than the old, while keeping patients in the dark about dangerous side effects.
A haunting, deeply compassionate book -- updated with a new introduction and prologue bringing in the latest medical treatments and trends -- Mad in America raises important questions about our obligations to the mad, the meaning of "insanity," and what we value most about the human mind.

Put “No Psychiatric Drugs” on Your RX List

I took Lithium for 18 years. In 2017 I began to get what would become serious physical health problems. When I found out my former friend Lithium was the cause, I tried to taper off it after a month of lowering my dose. I got a horrible relapse. I had no one to talk to about this. I finally got an appointment 4 months hence with a med management person. I wanted information. I needed to talk. I found this book and books by Peter Breggin and Robert Yoho. It is unbelievably difficult to find a MH provider! When you do, they will invariably want to give you another pill! With the help of this book and 2 others plus YouTube videos by renegade MH people who practice evidence-based psychiatry, I have been able to cobble together a tapering of my own. After 6 months on this program, I have a final quit date of mid-January. I am hopeful I won’t relapse again. This book and the others have helped me immensely. If I relapse again, I will just back up, take Lithium again and taper longer. I cannot thank Robert Whitaker enough for this book and his YouTube videos.

Mental Illness in America - An American Tragedy

Excellent exposition and explanation of the tragic history, and ongoing mistreatment of the mentally ill population in America.

Eye opening

I listened to this book twice since I had a really hard time with some of material. I didn’t want to believe some of the things I heard.

Thorough and completely eye opening!

The absolute seminal book on mental “healthcare” in America. Thoughtfully written by someone who has complete command of the subject matter. Wonderfully told. Should be required reading for every psychiatrist, psychologist, social worker, and doctor.