Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications

Written by AbleChild on September 1, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

The withdrawal and long-term side effects of many psychiatric medications can cause symptoms that are similar or worse than the symptoms for which the patient is being medicated in the first place. Author Peter R. Breggin, along with David Cohen, Ph.D., were among the first to address these major issues, in this spectacular book which was way ahead of it’s time. Since the book’s first publication in 1999, there have been numerous studies confirming the harmful side effects and withdrawal symptoms of these drugs, and even the FDA acknowledges these problems.

Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications goes into great detail, backed by thorough research, about the particular side effects and withdrawal symptoms for all different kinds of psychiatric medications; from antidepressants to mood stabilizers to stimulants. The book explains how doctor’s often do not take enough time to examine the patient, misdiagnose the patient, and as a result prescribe psychiatric drugs that are not needed, and often do more harm than good. This quick decision made by the doctor can impact years or even decades of a patient’s life. Your Drug May Be Your Problem educates patients and doctors about the correct way to gradually stop taking psychiatric drugs, and outlines the process for withdrawing from the medications. The book has also been fully updated to include new research studies and medications 0n the market.

About the Author

Peter R. Bregg, M.D., is a a psychiatrist who is very well known for helping set the stage for modern criticism of psychiatric treatments and psychotropic drugging. He has promoted so much success in the field of mental health that he has acquired the nickname “conscience of psychiatry.” HIs reform efforts began in the 1970s, and resulted in almost a complete cease in the use of procedures like lobotomy and psychosurgery in the Western World. Then in the 1990s, he and his wife Ginger were able to stop a federal eugenics project that was planned on America’s inner-city children. You can find more details about this in the book he co-authored with Ginger, The War Against Children of Color.

Breggin has been a full-time consultant at NIMH, as well as for the FAA. He has published over 20 books and numerous scientific articles. Some of his books include Toxic Psychiatry, The Antidepressant Factbook, and Talking Back to Prozac. His latest book is Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey. Dr. Breggin is also the founder and director of The Center for the Study of Emphatic Therapy, Education and Living. He attended Harvard, and currently resides in Ithaca, NY. Find out more on his website, www.breggin.com.

Reclaiming our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis

Written by AbleChild on August 20, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

This is another groundbreaking and insightful book from psychiatrist Peter R. Breggin. In Reclaiming our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis, Breggin makes the case that society has, over time, begun to invest less and less in the support and attention that is given to children. Parents have become too busy, and as a result less involved in their children’s lives. Then children begin to seek that support they are longing for through behaviors such as violence, frustration, humiliation and anger.

Breggin felt moved to write this book after the events surrounding the shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado. He was disturbed by the response of government, which used biological psychiatry as an explanation for mental states that lead to these events, and subsequently pushed psychiatric drugs as a solution. Biological psychiatry attributes a chemical imbalance in the brain as the cause of rebellion, violence and misbehavior in children, as opposed to what is going on in their environment and how they are responding.

Breggin does an excellent job of presenting evidence, through his own counseling experiences, that psychiatric drugs can lead to aggression, and potentially even be the cause, not the solution, to events like Columbine. He says that you cannot fix all these behaviors by trying to fix a child’s brain. Often, aggressive, violent and other unruly behaviors are often a response by the child to being mistreated, by their parents or others in society.

About the Author

Reviews

Douglas A. Smith, from the organization Antipsychiatry.org:

“By giving the reader an understanding of children’s thinking, he illustrates the stupidity of the underlying assumption of biological psychiatry, namely, that children’s (and adult’s) problems are caused by abnormalities of their brains, which in turn, to the ignorant, justifies the use of psychiatric drugs.”

Gwen Broude, in the article Scatterbrained Child Rearing from Reason.com:

“It is trivially true that all of a person’s thoughts, emotions, and behavior are a product of what is going on in the brain. But when people begin to see every inconvenient behavior as a disorder, and when they then propose, on the basis of the so-called new brain science, that we fix the child by fixing his brain, we have got a problem. Breggin targets this recent tendency on the part of educators, psychiatrists, and policy makers to view children’s behaviors as dysfunctions when they depart from the norm and then to advocate medical treatments for those supposed dysfunctions.”

The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You

Written by AbleChild on July 30, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

Peter R. Breggin, M.D. is an accomplished zealot for the overprescribing and misuse of psychotropic medications, that come as a result of the misdiagnosis of Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) in children. In the book, Breggin makes a strong case, which he backs up with pharmaceutical research and correspondence files that he has gained access to over the years due to being a medical expert in so many civil and criminal cases involving the drug. His reputation as a go-to medical expert has pegged Breggin as the “Ralph Nader of Psychiatry.”

This book will give you the most accurate and detailed information about psychotropic drugs prescribed for ADHD, and the information is presented in an easy-to-understand and straightforward manner. The drugs Breggin addresses that are being overprescribed and misused are Ritalin SR, Adderall XR, Dexedrine, Focalin, Concerta, Metadate ER and Cylert. Nearly 6 million children are taking one of these drugs, supposedly for ADHD. Breggin gives details about all the possible side effects and withdrawal symptoms of these medications. He says that not only do these drugs not help children with their learning and concentration issues, but they can cause other serious physical problems in children. Breggin also lays out different alternative approaches for treating children with hyperactivity or concentration problems that do not involve psychotropic drugs.

About the Author

Talking Back to Ritalin: What Doctors Aren’t Telling You About Stimulants and ADHD

Written by AbleChild on July 22, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

In this book, author Peter Breggin, M.D., cuts through the shiny propaganda of the psychiatric and pharamaceutical industries, which tell parents that Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is an epidemic that can be easily solved with the use of psychotropic drugs such as Ritalin and Concerta. The reality is, many of these medications are molecularly similar to drugs such as amphetamines and cocaine. Breggin exposes the harmful side effects that can result from the medications, such as behavioral disorders, growth suppression, neurological tics, agitation, addiction, and psychosis. He also argues that withdrawal from some of these medications can actually create these supposed chemical “imbalances” and insubordinate behaviors these drugs are prescribed to treat. Basically, this book is an overall “red pill” to Americans about the true motivations in the psychiatric community behind the diagnosis of ADHD and prescription of psychotropic drugs.

In Talking Back to Ritalin: What Doctors Aren’t Telling You About Stimulants and ADHD, Breggin goes into great detail explaining the condition of ADHD, how it is diagnosed, and gives a corporate and economic background on who financially profits from these diagnoses and the prescription of psych0tropic drugs. The author explains the interactions that take place between the body, mind and environment, that are largely ignored by medical and mental health professionals, which can explain many of the behaviors and symptoms that are misdiagnosed as ADHD.

Breggin calls out the incompetence of medical professionals to properly diagnose physical issues that can cause concentration struggles, such as poor nutrition, neurological impairment and allergies. He also addresses the myth that mental illness is biologically determined. The author discusses non-drug alternatives and improvements in school and family life that may instead address these issues more effectively.

About the Author

Reviews

Psychiatrist Sharon A. Collins, M.D.:

“I am a mother first and a doctor second… The principles in this book help us as parents to empower our children to be successful in life.”

The Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation

Written by AbleChild on July 9, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

This is a book that will really make you think outside the box. In The Necessity of Madness: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation, author John Breeding takes a very different view of psychiatry; one that is seen by many as controversial. Society has certain expectations for human behavior, and one of those basic expectations is that we should be productive no matter what is going on with us mentally, emotionally, spiritually or physically. But Breeding believes that a certain amount of unproductivity is actually necessary for optimal spiritual growth. So the very thing most psychiatrists are trying to suppress, is what is often needed the most. Madness refers to spiritual maturity. Every one of us is born with a set of cultural values, beliefs, customs, behaviors. When we begin to explore other values and behaviors that are unfamiliar to our culture, many see this as madness. Basically, Breeding’s book helps us learn to make our own decisions on how we think our children, or any person, should act through different stages in life, as opposed to what society thinks is “normal” or “productive.” This book is an excellent resource for individuals to better understand themselves, parents to more effectively help their children, and for psychiatrists to begin expanding on their ideas about their work and possible solutions for their patients.

About the Author

John Breeding, Ph.D., is a psychologist with over 25 years of experience who counsels adults children and families out of his private practice in Austin, Texas, and also around the world. He is the director of the non-profit organization Wildest Colts Resources, which focuses on helping adults working with young people having a hard time to offer non-drug treatment alternatives. He is also the director of Texans for Safe Education, a citizens group dedicated to fighting the growing role of psychiatry and psychiatric drugs in schools today.

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas. He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, and True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for Our Children According to Our Understanding).

Reviews

The Washington Post:

“A work of genius! Breeding has a unique understanding of the damage that psychiatry causes society.”

The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses

Written by AbleChild on June 22, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, is, as the title implies, a work that encourages the spirits of our young people and shines a more positive light on them. The book also has two subtitles. The first subtitle, The Truth About Ritalin, ADHD, and other “Disruptive Behavior Disorders” signals that the book really brings a lot of attention to the phenomenon of unrealistically high numbers of children being labeled with these kind of diagnoses, and prescribed potentially dangerous psychiatric medication. The second subtitle is What to Do When Your Child is Labeled By the Schools. The book offers a great deal of support for any adult that is caring for and looking to help a child in this type of situation.

This book is divided into three major sections:

Part 1: Recognition and Remembrance

Since society distorts the reality regarding the experience of children and schools, we need to recognize this and create a realistic picture of the situation to respond effectively.
Addresses the “Biopsychiatry” approach, which has led to the overmedicating of children with psychiatric drugs like Ritalin in the United States.
This section works to focus on ideas of who the child truly is and see the schools for what they really are.
Remembrance refers to training ourselves to be able to remember who our child truly is, which can be easy to forget in times of heightened stress and when the child is having a hard time emotionally or behaviorally.

Part 2: Information and Action

This section focuses on solutions – what action parents can take to help their child.
In our flawed society where no one tells us how to be parents, this book guides us on how to respond to these sensitive situations.

Part 3: On Counseling Children

This section is the heart of the book.
Does a great job of outlining and unpacking all of the conditioned thinking that has led our society astray.
Our society lacks support for both parents and children, and helping your children the way that is outlined in this book is very challenging in our culture today.
This section thoroughly examines important topics like fear, shame, crying and anger.
The author shares his own personal experiences as a parent.

About the Author

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas. He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for Our Children According to Our Understanding, and Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation.

Reviews

Moira Dolan, M.D. The West News, Fall 1996:

“Are you the parent of a ‘wild colt’? Is your darling child identified as a ‘problem’ in school, or been the target of kindly professionals suggesting Ritalin? If so, you will discover your child in John Breeding’s new book….”

Chris Mercogliano, author of Making it Up as We Go Along, the Story of the Albany Free School and Co-Director of the Free School:

“Authors die for the perfect titles for their work. Well, John Breeding has come up with a doozy here. I wholeheartedly agree with Breeding and share his horror at what we are doing to our society’s wild colts. Breeding elects to focus mainly on today’s most popular designer label for children who don’t fit the mold, “Attention Deficit Disorder.” He emphatically repudiates any and every psychopharmaceutical approach to the behavioral management of children… Breeding knows what he’s talking about. So, parents out there, if the “psychiatric police” show up at your door, there is another way.”

True Nature and Great Misunderstandings (On How We Care for our Children According to Our Understanding)

Written by AbleChild on June 15, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

In this groundbreaking work from 2002, author John Breeding gives extra attention to the view, or understanding, from which we are viewing our children. For example, if we think they are rowdy and violent, then we will have an understanding that we have to tame them. Or if we don’t recognize their unlimited capacity for curiosity and intelligence, we will see them as uncooperative and misbehaving and feel the need to punish or reward them accordingly. In this book, Breeding gently shines the light on the misunderstanding we have that our children’s wonderful gifts are in fact biologically-based problems labeled as “mental illness,” then the turnout is a society with millions of children on dangerous and unnecessary psychotropic drugs.

But instead of leading us to extreme shock and anger, Breeding does an excellent job of allowing us to properly absorb the information, clearly see the correct perspective and take the necessary actions to correct these misunderstandings. Breeding explains in detail how we can stop suppressing our children’s gifts and passions and instead nurture their emotional and intellectual growth and development. He eases fears many parents have about certain behaviors they may have been conditioned to see as signs of “mental illness.” True Nature and Great Misunderstandings is not only an excellent book that will help parents care for their children, it can also help parents and other adults heal from their own childhood hurts.

About the Author

Dr. Breeding is also experienced in other aspects of psychiatric oppression, including electroshock and psychiatric drugging of elders in nursing homes. He received his doctorate from the University of Texas. He has published several other books: Eyes Wide Open: Parenting and Life Mainfestos for the 21st Century, The Wildest Colts Make the Best Horses, and Necessity of Madness and Unproductivity: Psychiatric Oppression or Human Transformation.

Reviews

Psychologist/teacher Roger Mitchell, Ph.D.:

“Somehow, someway, John Breeding has found a way to measure his steps, his dreams, his pain, and his passion-to transform them into a dynamic interplay with the times and the American culture in a way that is thought provoking and heart rendering. I am always inspired when I read his ‘marking of the twain,’ sounding the depth of our American way of life.”

Author Jan Hunt (The Natural Child: Parenting from the Heart):

“In his strong voice, John Breeding makes it clear that our children deserve to be accepted and valued for their unique and wonderful qualities, not evaluated, pigeon-holed, labeled, or drugged. It is my hope that this refreshing, thought-provoking, and very important book will be read and taken to heart by all those fortunate enough to have children, work with children, or advocate on their behalf.”

No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs

Written by AbleChild on June 9, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

With several million children still being prescribed ADHD drugs such as Ritalin every year, Dr. Mary Ann Block makes the case for why Ritalin (generic name methylphenidate) could be a huge risk to your child’s health. Block takes an avant-garde approach in No More Ritalin: Treating ADHD Without Drugs, not only questioning the very existence of the ADHD diagnosis, but she outlines safe and more effective drug-free alternative means of treatment. Block is of the school of thought that you can’t treat the problem until you identify the underlying causes of ADHD, such as hypoglycemia, allergies, environmental factors and hyperthyroidism. Often, symptoms stemming from issues such as these are misdiagnosed as ADHD. The book also lists commonly prescribed medications, explains what they are and the potential side effects they can have on children.

Block discusses in the book her belief that children diagnoses with ADHD are usually right-brain dominant in their information processing and learning styles, as well as being more creative than those with left-brain dominant styles. She explains the need for right-brain dominated children to be offered better accommodations with their learning styles in the school system. Block presents her arguments with thorough research and actual case histories from her clinic.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her medical approach is to look for and treat, whenever possible, the underlying causes of the problem, instead of using drugs to cover the symptoms. Her other books include No More ADHD, Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Dr. Block chairs The Health and Empowerment Committee for the National Foundation of Women Legislators. She is a State of Texas Family Practice Preceptor and served on the faculty as assistant professor at the University of North Texas Health Science Center/Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth, Texas. Dr. Block is a regular contributor on TBN and FamilyNet’s Your Health with Dr. Richard Becker, as well as being quoted in magazines, newspapers, radio and TV shows across the country.

No More ADHD, 10 Steps to Help Improve Your Child’s Attention and Behavior WITHOUT Drugs

Written by AbleChild on June 1, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

From the same top-selling author of Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem is a book that thoroughly investigates the truth about the ADHD diagnosis, and helps parents identify their child’s true health and learning problems and find non-pharmaceutical ways to improve these issues. Block reveals what’s behind the origin of the medical profession’s label of ADHD, question’s the disorder’s medical legitimacy, and shows how children’s attention and behavior symptoms can be the result of real and explainable health and learning problems.

Dr. Block is an outspoken critic of children being diagnosed with ADHD and the dangers of the psychiatric drugs being prescribed to treat children. She advises parents to make sure their children are thoroughly examined by a medical professional to find underlying medical problems that could be misdiagnosed as a mental disorder.

Dr. Block is a mother who knows from personal experience how the medical system can fail a child. Her daughter became seriously ill following an incorrect diagnosis from doctors and inappropriate use of pharmaceutical drugs. This compelled her to attend medical school at the age of 39 to save her daughter. Dr. Block’s perspective as both a parent and a physician should set many parents at ease and give them confidence in her advice in this book.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a licensed osteopathic physician and top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her other books include No More Ritalin, No More Amoxicillin, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Just Because You’re Depressed, Doesn’t Mean You Have Depression, Depression is a Symptom Not a Disease, So Find the Cause — Fix the Problem

Written by AbleChild on May 25, 2021. Posted in Essential Books.

In this book, Dr. Mary Ann Block uses a clear and easy to understand writing style to expose the truth about the diagnosis of depression, and the dangers of the current medications prescribed for it. If you or someone you love is among the 300 million people diagnosed with or suffering from the symptoms of depression, the information from this book could literally save your life. In the book, Block examines the often flawed area of psychiatry with a fine-tooth comb, to help people understand the real issues underlying their symptoms. Having the right information then allows you to make an educated decision.

Block’s book outlines the six most common causes of depression that she has seen among her patients. They are as follows:

Thyroid Problems
Hormone Deficiencies
Magnesium and Other Nutritional Deficiencies
Allergies
Prescription Drug Side-Effects
A Personal Loss or Other Normal Life Cycle Experience

Other important points covered in Block’s book include:

Postpartum depression, and how it is a hormonal imbalance, not something that requires treatment with anti-depressants.
How poor nutrition can impact your mood and lead to symptoms of depression.

Block also reviews the many side effects of anti-depressants, which include depression, heart failure, heart attack, atrial fibrillation, cerebral embolism, stroke, shock, thrombosis, ventricular arrythmia, venticular fibrillation, hemorrhage, coma, delusions, abnormal EEG, hypertension, angina pectoris, agitation, sleep disorder, apathy, ataxia, hallucinations, hostility, paranoid reactions, personality disorder, psychosis, vertigo, antisocial behavior and stupor.

About the Author

Dr. Mary Ann Block is a top-selling author on family health, and director of the Block Center. Her medical approach is to look for and treat, whenever possible, the underlying causes of the problem, instead of using drugs to cover the symptoms. Her other books include No More ADHD, No More Ritalin, Today I Will Not Die, and The ABC’s of Raising Great Kids.

Reviews

David Brown Stein, M.D., author of Overcoming Thyroid Disorders and Drugs That Don’t Work, and Natural Therapies That Do

“This book is a must read for those who have been diagnosed with depression. This book gives the reader all the information they need to make the best choices about how to find the real cause of their symptoms. I highly recommend this book by Dr. Mary Ann Block.”