Prozac was the first high-tech "designer drug" to be used in treating milder types of mental illness formerly altered by mood modifiers like Valium and Lithium. Before 1987 - when Prozac was released by Eli Lilly - most antidepressants produced disconcerting side effects. Using these drugs was like treating mental illness with a sledgehammer.
But Prozac targeted the functions of a particular cluster in the brain, rather than any particular mental illness. It worked. Not only was the drug nonaddictive and relatively free of any other side effects, it could transform many different personality traits. In Listening to Prozac, Tess, one of author Peter Kramer's cases, suffered from a lack of confidence that inhibited her life and work; a few weeks on Prozac, and she became outgoing, confident, and, yes, even happy. But at first Kramer, a well-read psychiatrist whose writing is refreshingly free of psycho-babble, thought Prozac worked too well. It violated fundamental American beliefs that mind- altering drugs are harmful, not helpful. Traditional psychiatrists felt that patients could only recover by talking through their problems and struggling with their souls. Kramer feared Prozac might deprive people of insights. But by "listening to Prozac," that is, listening to how his patients were able to cope with life more effectively, Kramer's own mind was altered. He not only began supporting the use of Prozac (in conjunction with psychotherapy), but he also became more effective in diagnosing his patients' problems.
To the eternal question, "Does man's quest for transcendence rely for its motive force on anxiety and sadness?" Kramer answers, "Not necessarily," especially for those whose lives have been chemically enriched.
Listening to Prozac, by Peter D. Kramer, US$11.95. Penguin Books: +1 (212) 366 2000.
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