Robert Whitaker (author)
Robert Whitaker is an American journalist and author, writing primarily about medicine, science, and history.
Career
Whitaker was a medical writer at the
In 2002, USA Today published Whitaker's article "Mind drugs may hinder recovery" in its editorial/opinion section.[8]
In 2004, Whitaker published a paper in the non-peer-reviewed journal Medical Hypotheses, titled
"The case against antipsychotic drugs: a 50-year record of doing more harm than good".
Mad in America
He has written on and off for the
Anatomy of an Epidemic
An IRE 2010 book award winner for best investigative journalism, this book investigates why the number of mentally ill patients in America receiving SSI or SSDI disability checks keeps rising, despite the so-called "psychopharmacological revolution." Whitaker's main thesis is that psychopharmacological drugs work well to curb acute symptoms. However, patients receiving prolonged treatment courses often end up more disabled than they started.[17] Despite these results from several landmark studies in the 1970s, in the 1980s pharmaceutical companies such as Eli Lily together with the American Psychiatric Association began more aggressively pushing second generation anti-depressants and anti-psychotics on psychiatric patients. Many prominent academic psychiatrists worked as key opinion leaders for the pharmaceutical companies, and were compensated millions of dollars.[17]: 322 [18]
Psychiatry Under the Influence
In 2015 Whitaker co-authored another book about the psychiatric research and medications. The book is critical of the drug industry influence on the field of psychiatry.
Awards and honors
Articles that Whitaker co-wrote won the 1998
A 1998
In April 2011, IRE announced that Anatomy of an Epidemic had won its award as the best investigative journalism book of 2010 stating, "this book provides an in-depth exploration of medical studies and science and intersperses compelling anecdotal examples. In the end, Whitaker punches holes in the conventional wisdom of treatment of mental illness with drugs."[22]
Books
- Mad In America: Bad Science, Bad Medicine, and The Enduring Mistreatment of the Mentally Ill, Perseus Publishing, December 24, 2001, ISBN 0-7382-0385-8
- The Mapmaker's Wife: A True Tale of Love, Murder, and Survival in the Amazon, Basic Books, April 13, 2004, ISBN 0-7382-0808-6
- On the Laps of Gods: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice That Remade a Nation, Crown, June 10, 2008, ISBN 0-307-33982-3
- Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America, Crown, April 13, 2010, ISBN 978-0-307-45241-2
- Psychiatry Under the Influence: Institutional Corruption, Social Injury, and Prescriptions for Reform, with Lisa Cosgrove, Palgrave Macmillan, April 23, 2015, ISBN 978-1137506924
References
- ^ author's biography Archived 2008-06-02 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ "Finalist: Staff of The Boston Globe". www.pulitzer.org. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
- ^ "Robert Whitaker". Psychology Today. Retrieved 2019-08-31.
- ^ "Mad in America - Science, Psychiatry and Social Justice". Mad In America. October 2, 2016.
- ^ "Science Journalists Study at the Institute - The Tech". tech.mit.edu.
- ^ "narpa.org interview with author". Archived from the original on July 3, 2008.
- ^ news coverage of deal
- ^ "Mind drugs may hinder recovery". USA Today. March 3, 2002.
- PMID 14728997.
- Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry. 7 (1): 23–35. Retrieved 5 April 2012.
- ^ Fitzpatrick, Laura (May 3, 2010). "The Skimmer". Time. Archived from the original on April 25, 2010. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
- ^ Burch, Druin (April 7, 2010). "Does psychiatry make us mad?". New Scientist. Reed Business Information. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
- ^ Good, Alex (May 21, 2010). "Book review: Anatomy of an Epidemic". The Record. Metroland Media. Retrieved October 5, 2010.
- ^ "Street Spirit: Justice News&Homeless Blues". www.thestreetspirit.org.
- ^ A 50-Year Record of Doing More Harm Than Good Archived 2009-07-04 at the Wayback Machine Medical Hypotheses, 62 (2004):5-13
- ^ "Take These Broken Wings | Wild Truth". Iraresoul.com. Retrieved 2019-10-22.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-307-45241-2.
- ^ Pereira, Joseph (2008-12-28). "Emory Professor Steps Down". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2016-02-05.
- ^ 1998 George Polk Award Winners at a Glance
- ^ "2011 Science in Society Journalism Award winners". www.nasw.org.
- ^ "1999 Pulitzer Prizes". www.pulitzer.org.
- ^ "IRE Awards 2010" (PDF). Investigative Reporters and Editors. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-09-15. Retrieved 2011-05-11.
Further reading
- Whitaker, Robert (2021). Do antipsychotics reduce the risk of relapse? In: Peter Lehmann & Craig Newnes (Eds.), Withdrawal from Prescribed Psychotropic Drugs. Berlin/Lancaster: Peter Lehmann Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9545428-8-7.
- Daniel J. Luchins (June 19, 2002), "Mental Illness",
- ""Anatomy of an Epidemic": The hidden damage of psychiatric drugs", Salon, Jed Lipinski, April 27, 2010
- "Are Prozac and Other Psychiatric Drugs Causing the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America?", AlterNet, Bruce E. Levine, April 28, 2010
- Whitaker, Robert (2007). Preface to: Peter Stastny & Peter Lehmann (Eds.), Alternatives Beyond Psychiatry (pp. 9–10). Berlin/Eugene/Shrewsbury: Peter Lehmann Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9788399-1-8(USA). E-Book in 2018.
- Whitaker, Robert (2007). Vorwort zu: Peter Lehmann & Peter Stastny (Hg.), Statt Psychiatrie 2 (S. 9-10). Berlin/Eugene/Shrewsbury: Antipsychiatrieverlag. ISBN 978-3-925931-38-3. E-Book in 2018.
- Whitaker, Robert (2012). Πρόλογος, στο: Πέτερ Λέμαν, Πέτερ Στάστνι & Άννα Εμμανουηλίδου (επιμ.), Αντί της ψυχιατρικής. Η φροντίδα του ψυχικού πόνου έξω από την ψυχιατρική (σ. 9–11). Θεσσαλονίκη: εκδ. Νησίδες 2012. ISBN 978-960-9488-26-6.
External links
- Appearances on C-SPAN
- Mad in America Robert Whitaker's blog for the magazine Psychology Today.
- Robert Whitaker at the ISEPP 2011 Conference in L.A. (part 1) on YouTube
- Robert Whitaker at the ISEPP 2011 Conference in L.A. (part 2) on YouTube
- Take These Broken Wings Daniel Mackler - Full movie.