sde's review
3.0
I heard about this book through a starred review in a professional library journal. Although I found the book interesting, it was not quite what I expected. I thought it was going to delve more deeply into what it means for a child's development and personality to be on drugs like Zoloft during the important and formative years of adolescence, and in turn, what it means for society that so many children are on these drugs during these years. Although the book did touch on all of these issues, it was more of a study of individuals - how and why they were on these drugs and whether they felt good or bad about it.
I appreciated the fact that the book wasn't just a tirade against drug companies. The author acknowledges the fact that these drugs are a big help to many people that might otherwise not be able to fully function in society. She touches on the question of when is a drug needed and when will time take care of a problem, but she doesn't explore it enough. I felt like she mingled people with serious problems like debilitating depression and OCD and those with less serious depression or anxiety over specific situations too much. Her questions and concerns would have been clearer if she addressed those groups of people in separate chapters.
I very much like the last chapter or two in the book where she starts to fully ask questions such as "Are we pathologizing normal feelings?" and "Why are so many more Americans on anti-depressants than Europeans?" and "Could the nature of our society be as much of a cause of depression as chemical imbalances." I wish she had started talking about these sorts of questions sooner and the book had explored those sorts of questions more.
I appreciated the fact that the book wasn't just a tirade against drug companies. The author acknowledges the fact that these drugs are a big help to many people that might otherwise not be able to fully function in society. She touches on the question of when is a drug needed and when will time take care of a problem, but she doesn't explore it enough. I felt like she mingled people with serious problems like debilitating depression and OCD and those with less serious depression or anxiety over specific situations too much. Her questions and concerns would have been clearer if she addressed those groups of people in separate chapters.
I very much like the last chapter or two in the book where she starts to fully ask questions such as "Are we pathologizing normal feelings?" and "Why are so many more Americans on anti-depressants than Europeans?" and "Could the nature of our society be as much of a cause of depression as chemical imbalances." I wish she had started talking about these sorts of questions sooner and the book had explored those sorts of questions more.
mjfmjfmjf's review
4.0
Entertainingly frightening. I really don't know how to take this book at all. It is basically a coming-of-age memoir around the concept of anti-depressants - with a bit of non-scientific inclusions from a set of people with relatively similar experiences. In the context of sending my oldest off too college it has been a bit upsetting.
I recall pieces of my first year of college pretty vividly - much more so than other periods of my life. It barely occurred to me to go to the health center when I had bronchitis - there is no way I would have thought to go for help for feeling sad. And yet I remember a specific moment in February of that year when that would have made sense. And if it had been 14 years later (and I had been female), I would have probably been giving drugs out of this book - and would have been on and off them years later.
It's hard to know what to do. This book captures that well including both what it feels like to be a young college student and a parent. And the idea that sometimes the drugs are absolutely necessary but almost impossible to know when that is. And that being sad sometimes is also okay. 4.5 of 5.
I recall pieces of my first year of college pretty vividly - much more so than other periods of my life. It barely occurred to me to go to the health center when I had bronchitis - there is no way I would have thought to go for help for feeling sad. And yet I remember a specific moment in February of that year when that would have made sense. And if it had been 14 years later (and I had been female), I would have probably been giving drugs out of this book - and would have been on and off them years later.
It's hard to know what to do. This book captures that well including both what it feels like to be a young college student and a parent. And the idea that sometimes the drugs are absolutely necessary but almost impossible to know when that is. And that being sad sometimes is also okay. 4.5 of 5.
sarah_belum's review
5.0
I highly recommend this book for anyone that is considering taking medication for their mental illness or is currently taking medication. This book is extremely well written by someone that has gone through the struggle herself. I love that it has experiences from people all around the US about their time taking medication.
paigereitz's review
5.0
Absolutely a phenomenal read. Anyone interested in the rise in antidepressant and related medications in youth in the 1990s and 2000s should read this book. Part memoir, part sociological cross-section of society, this was a beautifully put-together book on the complexities of treating mental illness, both with medications, with therapy, and with a combination of the two. It focuses on young people being treated with medications and how it impacts the quest all young people go on to find themselves. It is carefully done and covers all opinions and facets. Marvelous book. Researched and digestible. I would assign this book in a social work & mental health 101 or a psychology 101 class for sure.
pilesandpiles's review against another edition
2.0
I'm really grumpy that I took the time to read this entire book. The premise is that the author took antidepressants on and off for about 10 years, beginning in college, and she wants to explore what's lost or gained when one comes into adulthood on medication. This should obviously just have been an essay, but instead she stretches it out through interviews with people with very similar backgrounds and life experiences as herself to make very predictable points that she clearly already had in mind. There's a brief nod to the possible relationship between capitalism and the upward trend in anxiety in young Americans, and a critical perspective on big pharma's role in all this, but otherwise no systemic analysis or even an acknowledgment that "coming of age" can't totally be universalized.
bigcupofjoha's review
5.0
Perfect if you like memoir type books. It gives insight into our age of overprescription of depression medications and the effects it has. Also explores the balance between medications and therapy to treat yourself.
cheesetits's review
4.0
Must read for someone either on SSRIs or someone young and considering taking them.
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