In a discussion of “mental illness” below, I neglected to highlight the work of a woman (linked to the right here) with first-hand experience in the field, a former beauty queen and pharmaceutical rep (and the two are not coincidentally related), Gwen Olsen. I highly recommend her book, Confessions of an Rx Drug Pusher, as a primer. It opens the door to the seedy world of PhRMA, ineffective and overpriced drugs, and a corrupt culture taken over by rent seekers whose only objective is to create dependency on pills to make cash flow.

They actually spend their time creating diseases to justify the pills, and schmoozing and bribing the psychiatric professionals (who seem unable to resist) to prescribe them. It is utterly corrupt. As Olsen says,

The most frightening aspects of our pill culture are the unknown interactions of various drugs when taken at once, or even taken serially, as their half-lives allow them to linger in our systems as the shrinks jump from one prescription to another looking for one that might actually work.

Ms. Olsen is doing her best. Heed her warning:

                                            WARNING/DISCLAIMER:
DO NOT ATTEMPT TO WITHDRAW FROM ANY PSYCHIATRIC MEDICATION ABRUPTLY, AS THIS COULD EXACERBATE SEVERE AND LIFE-THREATENING SYMPTOMS!

It may require a period of weeks or months to successfully discontinue your medication. I am not a licensed practitioner and cannot make diagnoses and/or medical treatment recommendations as such. Please consult a qualified doctor before adjusting or discontinuing any medication regimens.

This link at her website has an (unfortunately) limited list of resources to assist people who are hooked on benzodiazepines, antidepressants and other psychiatric drugs.