The University of North Carolina Press

224 pp., 6.125 x 9.25, notes, index

Studies in Social Medicine

Cloth

ISBN  978-0-8078-2880-9

Published: September 2004

Paper

ISBN  978-0-8078-5551-5

Published: September 2004

Prozac as a Way of Life

Edited By Carl Elliott and Tod Chambers

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.

Contributors:

Tod Chambers, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago

David DeGrazia, George Washington University

James C. Edwards, Furman University

Carl Elliott, University of Minnesota Center for Bioethics

David Healy, University of Wales College of Medicine

Laurence J. Kirmayer, McGill University

Peter D. Kramer, Brown University

Erik Parens, The Hastings Center

Lauren Slater, AfterCare Services, Boston

Susan Squier, Pennsylvania State University

Laurie Zoloth, Northwestern University Center for Genetic Medicine, Chicago

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.