The Infinite Mind: "Listening to Prozac"

Since it was introduced in 1987, Prozac has been prescribed to nearly five million Americans. But what is Prozac - a medication, or a mental steroid? A cure for depression, or a drug that changes personality? Reported to turn shy people into social butterflies and to improve work performcee, memory, even dexterity, does Prozac work on character rather than illness? Are you using it "cosmetically," to make people more attractive? More energetic, more socially acceptable? And what does it tell us about the nature of character and the mutability of self?

With the addition of an afterword that gives us an up-to-date report on Prozac in America today - including his personal observations, his reaction to his critics, and the latest scientific research - psychiatrist Peter Kramer reinforces what the New York Times calls "an intelligent and informative book...[which tells] us new things about the chemistry of human character."

PRAISE FOR "LISTENING TO PROZAC"

“Intelligent and informative.” -The New York Times

“One of the most important and provocative books on psychology I’ve seen in years…asks us to question all our assumptions about what the self is, what therapy has been and can be, and about the role of drugs in affecting behavior and personality.” - Psychology Today

“Dr. Kramer seems to be writing about the therapeutic credos of our time. The result is entertaining, provocative . . . and often originally insightful.” - The New York Times Book Review

“Kramer is a wonderful writer, and his readers will learn much about the new research on temperament and personality, biological theories of mood disorders, and the behind-the-scenes stories of how psychiatric drugs were discovered or invented.” - Los Angeles Times Book Review

“[Kramer] has taken on in a lucid and informed manner, issues that many clinicians and academics have been unwilling to tackle….His book will be truly heuristic…it will generate agreement or disagreement but, most importantly, it will generate thought and discussion. This is what one hopes for, but too rarely gets, in the public discussion of science and medicine.” - The Washington Post

“Peter Kramer deals brilliantly with the complex issue of personality and questions whether a commonly used antidepressant can alter the very essence of a person’s character.” - Nature

“Kramer presents a lucid and convincing demonstration that American psychiatry is not brain dead….It demonstrates that conceptual brilliance and innovative thinking are alive and well in our field today.” - American Journal of Psychiatry

“Kramer fruitfully examines many questions that are relevant to everyone in this post-Freudian age of medication.” - San Francisco Chronicle

“Debunks the hysteria about [Prozac], fanned by pop journalism and talk shows, and gives us instead a multifaceted exploration of what the drug can do, cannot, and perhaps should not do.” - The Houston Post

“A wise and unflinching examination of the ramifications for society—and for the individual—when the capsule replaces the touch.” - Kirkus Reviews

“Tackles the complicated implications and assumptions of modern psychiatry.” - New York Daily News

“Extremely well-written, easy to read, serious, erudite and highly stimulating…and important and essential edition to psychiatric literature. We are fortunate to have Peter Kramer, a teacher and writer par excellence.” - The Philadelphia Inquirer

Honored as "Great Brain Book" by scientists of the Dana Alliance for Brain Initiatives.