Peter Roger Breggin (born May 11, 1936) Contemporary Authors Online, s.v. "Peter R(oger) Breggin" (accessed March 24, 2008). is an American psychiatrist and critic of shock treatment and psychiatric medication. In his books, he advocates replacing psychiatry's use of drugs and electroconvulsive therapy with psychotherapy, education, empathy, love, and broader human services.
Breggin is the author of many books critical of psychiatric medication, including Toxic Psychiatry, Talking Back to Prozac and Talking Back to Ritalin. His most recent book, Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry, discusses his theory of medication spellbinding (in which patients are said to do worse after treatment but fail to see this or recognize why), the adverse effects of drugs and electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), the hazards of diagnosing and medicating children, Breggin's theory of a "psychopharmaceutical complex", and guidelines for psychotherapy and counseling.
Breggin now lives in the Finger Lakes, Central New York and practices psychiatry in Ithaca, New York.
As an undergraduate Breggin had volunteered at the state mental hospital, leading the volunteer program and co-authoring a book " College students in a mental hospital". He recalls at the age of 18 witnessing electroconvulsive therapy being practiced then in the 'shock room' and finding it barbaric. After becoming a psychiatrist in the early 70s, he also campaigned against any return of the crude brain procedure known as lobotomy. Breggin reports that he was threatened and insulted with psychiatric terms at a meeting of the American Psychiatric Association in 1972, by leading ECT advocate Leo Alexander, and won damages for libel and slander.
In 1972, he founded the Center for the Study of Psychiatry, which was known as the International Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology until 2011, when it was renamed the International Society for Ethical Psychology and Psychiatry. In 1979 "Electroshock: Its Brain-Disabling Effects" was published. Advocating Against Shock Treatment Retrieved on 7 Mar 2018
Breggin is a life member of the American Psychiatric Association and an editor for several scientific journals. His opinions have been portrayed both favorably and unfavorably in the media, including Time magazine and The New York Times. He has appeared as a guest on shows including Oprah, 60 Minutes, 20/20, and Good Morning America. About Peter R. Breggin, MD Retrieved on 7 Mar 2018
Breggin was invited many times "to testify before federal agencies and the U.S. Congress, and he has been an expert on psychiatry drug adverse effects for the Federal Aviation Agency (FAA). He has also testified many times at FDA hearings".
He later ran The Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education and Living, a 501(c) organization.
In 2002 he moved to Ithaca. In 2010, he and his wife Ginger formed a new organization devoted to speaking out against "the hazards of contemporary biological psychiatry" and promoting more "caring and empathic approaches to personal conflict and suffering". A documentary about his life, " The Conscience of Psychiatry", was released in 2009.
Breggin published one science fiction novel, After The Good War: A Love Story, in 1972.
According to Breggin, the pharmaceutical industry propagates disinformation that is accepted by unsuspecting doctors, saying "the psychiatrist accepts the bad science that establishes the existence of all these mental diseases in the first place. From there it's just a walk down the street to all the drugs as remedies." He points out problems with conflicts-of-interest (such as the financial relationships between drug companies, researchers, and the American Psychiatric Association). Breggin states psychiatric drugs, "... are all, every class of them, highly dangerous". He asserts: "If neuroleptics were used to treat anyone other than mental patients, they would have been banned a long time ago. If their use wasn't supported by powerful interest groups, such as the pharmaceutical industry and organized psychiatry, they would be rarely used at all. Meanwhile, the neuroleptics have produced the worst epidemic of neurological disease in history. At the least, their use should be severely curtailed."
In his book, Reclaiming Our Children, he calls for the ethical treatment of children. Breggin argues that the child abuse is a national (U.S.) tragedy, including psychiatric diagnoses and prescription of drugs for children whose needs were not otherwise met. He especially objects to prescribing psychiatric medications to children, arguing that it distracts from their real needs in the family and schools, and is potentially harmful to their developing and .
Together with Fred Baughman, Breggin testified about ADHD to the United States Congress. In Congress Breggin claimed "that there were no scientific studies validating ADHD", that children diagnosed with ADHD needed "discipline and better instruction" rather than psychiatric drugs, and that therapeutic stimulants "are the most addictive drugs known in medicine today." Baughman and Breggin were also the major critics in a PBS Frontline TV series about ADHD entitled 'Medicating Kids'.
Breggin has been very critical of psychologist Russell Barkley's work on ADHD, claiming that he exaggerates the benefits of stimulants and minimizes their hazards.
In 1994, Breggin said that Eli Lilly and Company (maker of the antidepressant fluoxetine) attempted to discredit him and his book Talking Back to Prozac by falsely linking him to the Church of Scientology and labeling his views as "Neo-Scientology".
In South Carolina, Breggin testified on behalf of Peggy S. Salters, a psychiatric nurse who sued her doctors and Palmetto Baptist Hospital in Columbia after ECT left her incapacitated in 2000. A jury found in favor of her and awarded her $635,177 in actual damages.[5] Unpublished Judicial Opinions, South Carolina
In 2002, Breggin was hired as an expert witness by a survivor of the Columbine High School massacre in a case against the makers of an anti-depressant drug. In his report, Breggin noted that "... Eric Harris was suffering from a substance induced (Luvox-induced) mood disorder with depressive and manic features that had reached a psychotic level of violence and suicide. Absent persistent exposure to Luvox, Eric Harris probably would not have committed violence and suicide." However, the argument was rejected by the judge, and the lawsuit was eventually dropped with the stipulation that the makers of Luvox donate $10,000 to the American Cancer Society. In 2005, he testified as the medical expert in a trial in which a jury "returned a malpractice verdict against a shock doctor in favor of the injured patient". His testimony as a witness helped to win against the adherents of shock treatment and psychosurgery and it was announced as harmful. Advocating Against Shock Treatment Retrieved on 8 Mar 2018
On September 16, 2011, in Winnipeg, Canada, a provincial judge cited Breggin's testimony in concluding that Prozac caused a sixteen-year-old boy to knife a friend to death, noting that, "Dr. Breggin's explanation of the effect Prozac was having on C.J.P.'s behavior both before that day and in committing an impulsive, inexplicable violent act that day corresponds with the evidence." About the boy, Judge Robert Heinrichs determined, "His basic normalcy now further confirms he no longer poses a risk of violence to anyone and that his mental deterioration and resulting violence would not have taken place without exposure to Prozac."
On November 20, 2012, a New York State Supreme Court jury awarded $1.5 million malpractice verdict to the family of a man who committed suicide while taking psychiatric drugs, including antidepressants. Dr. Breggin was the expert witness for the family.
| + List of books | |||
| 2021 | Covid-19 and the Global Predators: We are the Prey | Pre-Order/Ebook | |
| 2016 | Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons | Routledge | |
| 2014 | Guilt, Shame, and Anxiety: Understanding and Overcoming Negative Emotions | Prometheus Books (5 Jan. 2015) | |
| 2014 | Talking Back to Prozac: What Doctors Aren't Telling You About Prozac and the Newer Antidepressants | Open Road Integrated Media, Inc. | |
| 2013 | Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and their Families | New York: Springer Publishing Company | |
| 2011 | Empathic Therapy by Peter R. Breggin MD, film on DVD | Studio: Lake Edge Press | |
| 2009 | Wow, I'm an American! How to Live Like Our Nation's Heroic Founders | Lake Edge Press | |
| 2009 | The Conscience of Psychiatry: The Reform Work of Peter R. | Lake Edge Press (August 25, 2009) | |
| 2008 | Medication Madness: A Psychiatrist Exposes the Dangers of Mood-Altering Medications | New York: St. Martin's Press | |
| 2008 | Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshock and the Psychopharmaceutical Complex, Second Edition | New York: Springer Publishing Company | |
| 2007 | Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why to Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications, Second Edition | Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books | |
| 2005 | Electroshock Treatment over Four Decades: The Case Against | Morgan Foundation Publishers: International Published Innovations | |
| 2003 | The Central Intelligence Agency | Cengage Gale | |
| 2002 | The Ritalin Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You | Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books | |
| 2002 | Dimensions of Empathic Therapy | Springer Publishing Company | |
| 2001 | The Anti-Depressant Fact Book: What Your Doctor Won't Tell You About Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, Celexa, and Luvox | Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books | |
| 2001 | Talking Back to Ritalin, Revised Edition | Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books | |
| 2000 | Reclaiming Our Children: A Healing Solution for a Nation in Crisis | Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books | |
| 1999 | Your Drug May Be Your Problem: How and Why To Stop Taking Psychiatric Medications | Cambridge, Mass.: Perseus Books | |
| 1998 | The War Against Children of Color : Psychiatry Targets Inner City Youth | Common Courage Press | |
| 1998 | Talking Back To Ritalin | Common Courage Press | |
| 1997 | Brain-Disabling Treatments in Psychiatry: Drugs, Electroshock and the Role of the FDA | New York: Springer Publishing Company | |
| 1997; new paperback edition 2006 | The Heart of Being Helpful: Empathy and the Creation of a Healing Presence | New York: Springer Publishing Company | |
| 1997 | Enough Is Enough | Addison Wesley Publishing Company | |
| 1996 | Psychosocial Approaches to Deeply Disturbed Persons | Haworth Press | |
| 1994 | The War Against Children | New York: St. Martin's Press | |
| 1994 | Talking Back to Prozac | New York: St. Martin's Press | |
| 1992 | Beyond Conflict: From Self-Help and Psychotherapy to Peacemaking | New York: St. Martin's Press | |
| 1991 | Toxic Psychiatry: Why Therapy, Empathy and Love Must Replace the Drugs, Electroshock, and Biochemical Theories of the "New Psychiatry" | New York: St. Martin's Press | |
| 1983 | Psychiatric Drugs: Hazards to the Brain | New York: Springer Publishing Company | |
| 1980 | The Psychology of Freedom : Liberty and Love As a Way of Life | Prometheus Books, Publishers | |
| 1979 | Electroshock: Its Brain-Disabling Effects | New York: Springer Publishing Company | |
| 1972 | After The Good War: A Love Story | New York: Popular Library | |
| 1971 | Crazy from the Sane | Carol Publishing Corporation | |
| 1962 | College Students in a Mental Hospital: Contribution to the Social Rehabilitation of the Mentally Ill | New York, Grune & Stratton, | |
Psychology, Life, and Overcoming Negative Emotions
1. Breggin, Peter. "The Psychophysiology of Anxiety". The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 139, 558–568, 1964.
2. Breggin, Peter. "Coercion of Voluntary Patients in an Open Hospital". Archives of General Psychiatry, 10:173–181, 1964. Reprinted with a new introduction in Edwards, R.B. (ed):Psychiatry and Ethics. Buffalo, Prometheus Books, 1982, and in Edwards, R.B. (ed): Ethics of Psychiatry. Amherst, New York, Prometheus Books, 1997.
3. Breggin, Peter. "The Sedative-like Effect of Epinephrine". Archives of General Psychiatry,12, 255–259, 1965.
4. Malev, J.S.; Breggin, P.R. et al. "For Better or for Worse: A Problem in Ethics". International Psychiatric Clinics, 2(3), 603–24, 1965.
5. Breggin, Peter. "Psychotherapy as Applied Ethics". Psychiatry, 34:59–75, 1971.
6. Breggin, Peter. "Lobotomy: An Alert". The American Journal of Psychiatry, 129:97, 1972.
7. Breggin, Peter. "Psychosurgery". JAMA, 226:1121, 1973.
8. Breggin, Peter. "The Second Wave of Psychosurgery". M/H (Mental Health), 57:10–13, 1973.
9. Breggin, Peter. "Therapy as Applied Utopian Politics". Mental Health and Society, 1:129–146, 1974.
10. Lundy PJ and Breggin, Peter. "Psychiatric oppression of prisoners". Psychiatric Opinion. 11(3):30–7, 1974.
11. Breggin, Peter. "Psychosurgery for Political Purposes". Duquesne Law Review, 13:841–862, 1975.
12. Breggin, Peter. "Psychiatry and Psychotherapy as Political Processes". American Journal of Psychotherapy, 29:369–382, 1975.
13. Breggin, Peter. "Madness is a Failure of Free Will; Therapy Too Often Encourages It". Psychiatric Quarterly, 53:61–68, 1981. Originally published (in French) in Verdiglione A (ed): "La Folie Dans La Psychoanalyse". Paris, Payot, 1977.
14. Breggin, Peter. "Electroconvulsive therapy for depression". The New England Journal of Medicine, 27;303(22):1305–6, 1980.
15. Breggin, Peter. "Electroshock Therapy and Brain Damage: The Acute Organic Brain Syndrome as Treatment". Behavior and Brain Sciences, 7:24–25, 1984.
16. Breggin, Peter. "Neuropathology and Cognitive Dysfunction from ECT". Electroconvulsive Consensus Development Conference Programs and Abstracts, pp. 59–64, 1985. Sponsored by the National Institute of Mental Health and the NIH Office of Medical Applications Research. Bethesda, Maryland, June 10–12, 1985 at the National Institutes of Health.
17. Breggin, Peter. "Neuropathology and Cognitive Dysfunction from ECT". Psychopharmacology Bulletin, 22:476–479, 1986.
18. Breggin, Peter. "Brain damage from nondominant ECT". The American Journal of Psychiatry, 143(10):1320–1, 1986.
19. Breggin, Peter and de Girolamo, G. "Ellettroshock: Tra Rischioiatrogeno e Mito Terapeutico". Quaderni Italiani di Psychiatrica, 6:497–540, 1987.
20. Breggin, Peter. "Precious the Crow". Voices (journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists), 23:32–42, Summer 1987.
21. Breggin, Peter. "The Three Dynamics of Human Progress: A Unified Theory Applicable to Individuals, Institutions and Society". Review of Existential Psychology and Psychiatry, 21(1–3):97–123, 1988–89.
22. Breggin, Peter. "Addiction to Neuroleptics?" The American Journal of Psychiatry, 146(4):560, 1989.
23. Breggin, Peter. "Dr. Breggin replies". The American Journal of Psychiatry, 146(9):1240, 1989.
24. Breggin, Peter. "Brain Damage, Dementia and Persistent Cognitive Dysfunction Associated with Neuroleptic Drugs: Evidence, Etiology, Implications". Journal of Mind Behavior, 11:425–464, 1990.
25. Breggin, Peter. "Psychotherapy in the Shadow of the Psycho-Pharmaceutical Complex". Voices (journal of the American Academy of Psychotherapists), 27:15–21, 1991
26. Weinberg MH and Breggin, Peter. "The homeless mentally ill". The American Journal of Psychiatry, 148(5):690–1, 1991.
27. Breggin, Peter. "A Case of Fluoxetine-induced Stimulant Side Effects with Suicidal Ideation Associated with a Possible Withdrawal Syndrome ('Crashing')". International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 3:325–328, 1992
28. Breggin, Peter. "Parallels Between Neuroleptic Effects and Lethargic Encephalitis: The Production of Dyskinesias and Cognitive disorders". Brain and Cognition, 23:8–27, 1993.
29. Breggin, Peter and Breggin, Ginger Ross. "A Biomedical Programme for Urban Violence Control in the US: The Dangers of Psychiatric Social Control". Changes: An International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 11(1) (March):59–71, 1993.
30. Breggin, Peter. "Psychiatry's Role in the Holocaust". International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 4:133–148, 1993. Adapted from a paper delivered at "Medical Science Without Compassion" in Cologne, Germany and published in the conference proceedings.
31. Breggin PR. "Genetics and crime". Science, 262(5139):1498, 1993.
32. Breggin, Peter. "Encephalitis lethargica". The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, 7(3), 387, 1995.`
33. Breggin, Peter. "Campaigns Against Racist Federal Programs by the Center for the Study of Psychiatry and Psychology". Journal of African American Men, 1(3), 3–22, Winter 1995/96.
34. Breggin, Peter. "Should the Use of Neuroleptics Be Severely Limited?" Changes: An International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 14:62–66 March 1996.
35. Breggin, Peter and Breggin, Ginger Ross. "The Hazards of Treating 'Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder' with Methylphenidate (Ritalin)" Journal of College Student Psychotherapy, 10:55–72, 1996.
36. Breggin, Peter. "Psychotherapy in Emotional Crises without Resort to Psychiatric Medication". The Humanistic Psychologist, 25:2–14, 1998.
37. Breggin, Peter. "Analysis of Adverse Behavioral Effects of Benzodiazepines with a Discussion of Drawing Scientific Conclusions from the FDA's Spontaneous Reporting System". Journal of Mind and Behavior, 19:21–50, 1998.
38. Breggin, Peter. "Electroshock: Scientific, ethical, and political issues". International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 11:5–40, 1998.
39. Breggin, Peter. "Does clozapine treatment cause brain disease?" Archives of General Psychiatry, 55(9):845, 1998.
40. Breggin, Peter. "Psychostimulants in the treatment of children diagnosed with ADHD: Part I—Acute risks and psychological effects". Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 1:13–33, 1999.
41. Breggin, Peter. "Psychostimulants in the treatment of children diagnosed with ADHD: Part II—Adverse effects on brain and behavior". Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 1:213–241, 1999.
42. Breggin, Peter. "Psychostimulants in the treatment of children diagnosed with ADHD: Risks and mechanism of action". International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 12 (1), 3–35, 1999. (Simultaneously published version of #24 and 25)
43. Breggin, Peter. "Empathic self-transformation and love in individual and family therapy". Humanistic Psychologist, 27:267–282, 1999.
44. Breggin, Peter. "Treatment of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder". JAMA, 281(16):1490–1, 1999.
45. Breggin, Peter. "What psychologists and psychotherapists need to know about ADHDand stimulants". Changes: An International Journal of Psychology and Psychotherapy, 18:13–23, Spring 2000
46. Breggin, Peter. "The NIMH multimodal study of treatment for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: A critical analysis". International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 13:15–22, 2000. Also published in Ethical Human Sciences and Services.
47. Breggin, Peter. "MTA study has flaws". Archives of General Psychiatry, 58:1184, 2001.
48. Breggin, Peter. "Empowering social work in the era of biological psychiatry". The annual Ephraim Lisansky lecture of the University of Maryland School of Social Work. Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 3:197–206, 2001.
49. Breggin, Peter. "Questioning the treatment for ADHD". Science, 291(5504):595, 2001.
50. Breggin, Peter. "Fluvoxamine as a cause of stimulation, mania, and aggression with a critical analysis of the FDA-approved label". International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 14: 71–86, 2002. Simultaneously published in Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 4, 211–227, 2002.
51. Breggin, Peter. "Psychopharmacology and human values". Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 43: 34–49, 2003.
52. Breggin, Peter. "Suicidality, violence and mania caused by selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs): A review and analysis". International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 16: 31–49, 2003/2004. Simultaneously published in Ethical Human Sciences and Services, 5:225–246, 2003.
53. Breggin, Peter. "Re: Mud Splatters". British Medical Journal, October 14, 2004.
54. Breggin, Peter. "Recent U.S., Canadian and British regulatory agency actions concerning antidepressant-induced harm to self and others: A review and analysis". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 7, 7–22, 2005. Simultaneously published in the International Journal of Risk and Safety in Medicine, 16, 247–259, 2005.
55. Breggin, Peter. "Recent regulatory changes in antidepressant labels: Implications for activation (stimulation) in clinical practice". Primary Psychiatry, 13, 57–60, 2006.
56. Breggin, Peter. "Court filing makes public my previously suppressed analysis of Paxil's effects". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 77–84, 2006.
57. Breggin, Peter. "How GlaxoSmithKline suppressed data on Paxil-induced akathisia: Implications for suicide and violence". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 91–100, 2006.14
58. Breggin, Peter. "Drug company suppressed data on paroxetine-induced stimulation: Implications for violence and suicide". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 255–263, 2006.
59. Breggin, Peter. "Intoxication anosognosia: The spellbinding effect of psychiatric drugs". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 8, 201–215, 2006. Simultaneously published in the International Journal of Risk and Safety and Medicine, 19, 3–15, 2007.
60. Breggin, Peter. "ECT damages the brain: Disturbing news for patients and shock doctors alike". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 9, 83–86, 2007.
61. Breggin, Peter and Breggin, Ginger Ross. "Exposure to SSRI antidepressants in utero causes birth defects, neonatal withdrawal symptoms and brain damage". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 10, 5–9, 2008.
62. Donald Marks; Breggin, Peter; and Braslow, Derek. "Homicidal ideation causally related to therapeutic medications". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 10, 134–145, 2008.
63. Breggin, Peter "Practical Applications: 22 Guidelines for Counseling and Psychotherapy". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 10, 43–57, 2008.
64. Breggin, Peter. "Antidepressant-induced suicide, violence, and mania: Risks for military personnel". Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, 12, 111–121, 2010.
65. Breggin, Peter. "The FDA should test the safety of ECT machines". International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 22, 89–92, 2010.
66. Breggin, Peter. "Psychiatric drug-induced Chronic Brain Impairment (CBI): Implications for longterm treatment with psychiatric medication". International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 23: 193–200, 2011.
67. Breggin, Peter. "The Rights of Children and Parents in Regard to Children Receiving Psychiatric Drugs". Children & Society, 28, 231–241, 2014.
68. van Daalen-Smith, Cheryl; Adam, Simon; Breggin, Peter; and LeFrançois, Brenda A. "The Utmost Discretion: How Presumed Prudence Leaves Children Susceptible to Electroshock". Children & Society, 28, 205–217, 2014.
69. Breggin, Peter. "The biological evolution of guilt, shame and anxiety: A new theory of negative legacy emotions". Medical Hypotheses, 85, 17–24, 2015.
70. Breggin, Peter. "Understanding and helping people with hallucinations based on the theory of negative legacy emotions". Humanistic Psychologist, 43, 70–87, 2015.15
71. Breggin, Peter. "Rational Principles of Psychopharmacology for Therapists, Healthcare Providers and Clients". Journal of Contemporary Psychotherapy, 46, 1–13, 2016.
72. Breggin, Peter. "Extreme psychospiritual states versus organic brain disease: Bringing together science and the human factor". Journal of Humanistic Psychology, 59, 686–696, 2019.
73. Breggin, P. and Stolzer, J. "Psychological Helplessness and Feeling Undeserving of Love: Windows into Suffering and Healing". The Humanistic Psychologist, June 2020, 48 (2). InPress.
74. Breggin, Peter. "Moving past the vaccine/autism controversy – to examine potential vaccine neurological harms". International Journal of Risk & Safety in Medicine, 1 (2020) 1–15 1 DOI 10.3233/JRS-200052 IOS
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