Anatomy of an Epidemic: Magic Bullets, Psychiatric Drugs, and the Astonishing Rise of Mental Illness in America

Updated with bonus material, including a new foreword and afterword with new research, this New York Times bestseller is essential reading for a time when mental health is constantly in the news.

In this astonishing and startling book, award-winning science and history writer Robert Whitaker investigates a medical mystery: Why has the number of disabled mentally ill in the United States tripled over the past two decades?

Key Highlights:

• Interwoven with Whitaker's groundbreaking analysis of the merits of psychiatric medications are personal stories of children and adults swept up in this epidemic.
• Anatomy of an Epidemic reveals that other societies have begun to alter their use of psychiatric medications and are now reporting much improved outcomes.
• It questions: Why can't such change happen here in the United States?
• The book explores why the results from long-term studies—all of which point to the same startling conclusion—have been kept from the public.
• It argues that while the nation faces an epidemic of disabling mental illness, the medical blueprints for curbing this epidemic have already been drawn up.

Praise for Anatomy of an Epidemic

“The timing of Robert Whitaker's Anatomy of an Epidemic, a comprehensive and highly readable history of psychiatry in the United States, couldn't be better.”
— Salon

“Anatomy of an Epidemic offers some answers, charting controversial ground with mystery-novel pacing.”
— TIME

“Lucid, pointed and important, Anatomy of an Epidemic should be required reading for anyone considering extended use of psychiatric medicine. Whitaker is at the height of his powers.”
— Greg Critser, author of Generation Rx

This is a must-read for anyone seeking a deeper understanding of the mental health crisis in America and the role psychiatric medications play in it.