Scan barcode
theangrylawngnome's review
2.0
Interesting, but ultimately not a particularly satisfying read. I think in this instance I'll just bullet point my +/-
• He quotes Bruno Bettelheim as an authority? The man was unmasked as an out and out fraud sometime ago; The lies Bettelheim told regarding his educational background should be enough to put him beyond the pale. To say nothing of downright cruel and crude "research" into autism.
• He seems to be gullibly accepting of the claims put forth by big pharma re: the effectiveness of antidepressants vs. placebos
• That he would reveal his own problems with severe depression was interesting; yet at the same time it appeared he really didn't know why it was he got better, or such was my impression
• Wolpert was apparently unaware that tricyclics are almost never prescribed in the USA any longer, at least on outpatient basis. The biggest issue is the "synergistic" effect between such drugs and things like alcohol. A very dangerous combination, one Wolpert seemed unaware of
• The two chapters I found most interesting (12 & 13) were frustratingly short; particularly the chapter on how depression is handled in the rest of the world...he traveled to China, Peru, Turkey, India and Japan, but the one chapter where discussed the trips is less than ten pages long? (I think there'd have been a very interesting book on that one aspect alone)
Perhaps my criticisms are unfair in the sense that this book is from 1999, and I'm reviewing it in 2012, but I'm fairly sure most of the points I've made were all on the table back then as well.
• He quotes Bruno Bettelheim as an authority? The man was unmasked as an out and out fraud sometime ago; The lies Bettelheim told regarding his educational background should be enough to put him beyond the pale. To say nothing of downright cruel and crude "research" into autism.
• He seems to be gullibly accepting of the claims put forth by big pharma re: the effectiveness of antidepressants vs. placebos
• That he would reveal his own problems with severe depression was interesting; yet at the same time it appeared he really didn't know why it was he got better, or such was my impression
• Wolpert was apparently unaware that tricyclics are almost never prescribed in the USA any longer, at least on outpatient basis. The biggest issue is the "synergistic" effect between such drugs and things like alcohol. A very dangerous combination, one Wolpert seemed unaware of
• The two chapters I found most interesting (12 & 13) were frustratingly short; particularly the chapter on how depression is handled in the rest of the world...he traveled to China, Peru, Turkey, India and Japan, but the one chapter where discussed the trips is less than ten pages long? (I think there'd have been a very interesting book on that one aspect alone)
Perhaps my criticisms are unfair in the sense that this book is from 1999, and I'm reviewing it in 2012, but I'm fairly sure most of the points I've made were all on the table back then as well.
More...