Prozac In Our Drinking Water

According to a 2004 article on the BBC website Prozac is consumed so ubiquitously in the United Kingdom that it has been detected in rivers and groundwater supplies. I wonder if other countries have performed the same tests with similar results. I'm assuming users have an internal surplus of the drug - beyond that which gets bound to serotonin re-uptake receptors - and it leaks out in the user's urine and gets recycled at sewage treatment stations. Prozac was launched in 1987. Before Prozac, between 5-10% of the British adult population was addicted to Valium (Diazepam) according to newspaper reports. In 1966, the Rolling Stones wrote a song about those little yellow pills: Mother's Little Helper (lyrics).

If you're reading about Prozac because you're feeling blue, this parody feature in Happy Woman magazine may bring a knowing smile to your face: How Prozac saved my marriage.

Let Them Eat Soma

In the 19th century, the eminent biologist Thomas Huxley, F.R.S., was known as "Darwin's Bulldog" for his defense of Charles Darwin's theory of evolution. He was the founder of a distinguished family tree, including grandsons Aldous Huxley (the writer), Sir Julian Huxley (the first Director General of UNESCO and founder of the World Wildlife Fund), and Sir Andrew Huxley (physiologist and Nobel laureate). You can find out more about the Huxley family at Wikipedia. Consequently, Aldous Huxley, the writer, was in a position to realistically assess future bio-technology scenarios when he wrote "Brave New World" in 1932. The novel describes a dystopian world in which happiness is dispensed in the form of government-issued pills called "Soma" (Prozac?) and human embryos are artificially cultivated according to the needs of the ruling elite. The novel was intended as a warning of what could happen if bio-technology became a tool for social control. His vision is not far removed from what could actually be achieved with present day bio-technology.

Aldous Huxley wrote a follow-up in 1958 — Brave New World Revisited — in which he reflected on how many of his original predictions had come true. Chapter 8 considered the advances in mood-changing drugs. Already, 50 years ago, research was underway into the role of Serotonin in the brain. You can read the whole chapter here: Chemical Persuasion.

• Related blog article:
  Prozac In Our Drinking Water

Links Page

Neuroscience, Medicine and Psychiatry

• The Neuro-Journalism Mill:
  The McDonnell Foundation, established by aerospace pioneer James S. McDonnell, awards grants for scholarship and research. One of the highlights of the Foundation's website is the "Neuro-Journalism Mill" — separating the wheat from the chaff in media reporting of brain science.
• Dr. Peter Breggin's Accomplishments:
  Dr. Bregging has spent his working life challenging harmful psychiatric treatments. This article summarizes what he has achieved (a lot!).
• Heart Failure - Diary of a Third Year Medical Student:
  More than 100 appendices full of interesting facts - worth reading on their own!

Social Issues

• The Corporation:
  A film which makes the case that the operational principles of global corporations give them a 'personality' which corresponds to a diagnosis of "anti-social personality disorder" according to the criteria of the standard psychiatric reference manual, DSM-IV.
• Alice Miller on breaking the cycle of child abuse:
  Psychotherapy alone cannot break the cycle.

Miscellaneous

• Blogspot vs. WordPress:
  If you're considering setting up a blog, check this handy table which compares the merits of free blog hosting at Blogger and WordPress.com.