Prozac As a Way of Life (Studies in Social Medicine) - Hardcover

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807828807 ISBN 13: 9780807828809

Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press, 2004

Synopsis

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.

About this title

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.

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.

Edition details

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807828807
• ISBN 13: 9780807828809
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 224
• Editor: Chambers Tod