Dimensions
168 x 234 x 10mm
Why does Australia suddenly seem to be in the grip of an epidemic of depression? What role do big drug companies play in this new culture of anti-depressants in which lonely retirees and anxious high-school students pop brain chemistry-altering pills?
This is a ground-breaking essay about the widely acknowledged over-prescription of drugs in Australia. Always conscious of the real suffering that lies beneath the frenzied consumption, it nevertheless questions the new culture of diagnosing, pathologising and prescribing. It also wonders at the afflictions of affluence, and asks: how happy are we?
Gail Bell, the acclaimed author of 'The Poison Principle' and 'Shot', investigates how the prescription culture actually operates. Basing her findings on interviews with drug reps, GPs and psychiatrists, this essay takes the pulse of Australia's "worried well" and looks at solutions to the ever-increasing spread of anti-depressants.
