Description from Goodreads: Although one in five Americans now takes at least one psychotropic drug, the fact remains that nearly seventy years after doctors first began prescribing them, we still don't know exactly how or why these drugs work--or don't work--on what ails our brains. Blue Dreams offers the explosive story of the discovery, invention, people, and science behind our licensed narcotics, as told by a riveting writer and psychologist who shares her own intimate experience with the highs and lows of psychiatry's drugs.
Lauren Slater's account ranges from the earliest, Thorazine and lithium, up through Prozac and other antidepressants, as well as Ecstasy, "magic mushrooms," the most cutting-edge memory drugs, and even neural implants. Along the way, she narrates the history of psychiatry itself, illuminating the imprint its colorful little capsules have left on millions of brains worldwide, and demonstrating how these wonder drugs may heal us or hurt us.
My interest in psychology led me to pick up this book. The author suffers from mental illness and has been on various psychotropic drugs for 35 years. She includes her own experiences with some of the drugs that she chronicles.
As she chronicled the histories of these drugs, I couldn't help but come back to the fact mentioned in the synopsis about how or why they work or don't work. They work but with consequences such as shortening people's life spans. Despite that, they are worth using because they allow so many people who have mental illness to function. Also of note, new drugs don't necessarily work better or have less side effects. It is just that new drugs are new and thus "in". Part of it has to do with the pharmaceutical companies but psychiatrists play a part as well.
I found the chapters on newer approaches to be noteworthy. Drugs that have mostly been considered recreational could possibly help treat mental illnesses. Drugs that cause people to forget may help heal mental trauma. Lastly, neural implants that stimulate the right places may be a way to enable people to function without the need for drugs. I found this book fascinating and would recommend it to people interested in the subject.
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