Review of Anatomy of an Epidemic

Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America by Robert Whitaker

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


I've only just begun reading this book, and I have to admit it seems very familiar, like a Po Bronson book painted another color of the self help spectrum. The gradual unfolding of the author's presumably coherent thesis seems to rely on the reader's ability to be concerned for their own mental health, without being capable of tolerating the health of others. Reading that a five year old child has been diagnosed with ADHD and Bi-Polar disorder, and is treated to a suite of psychopharmaceuticals, is not something I would really choose to read, were it not something I told myself I would read.



Here are some random thoughts / reader's notes so far



Homogenization of society and culture through medication

Pharmaceutical industry as catalyst and provider

The family's ability to discern and predict difference as a form of illness

The support system's ability to condemn

The lowering of personal stature through diagnosis



And of course, Aldous Huxley, Brave New World.



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