Interview with Peter R. Breggin MD and Allison Leotta

Peter R. Breggin MD, author of "Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and their Families"

Peter R. Breggin MD's Website

Prominent Trial Attorney, Jack Girardi interviews Peter R. Breggin, MD, who has been called “The Conscience of Psychiatry” for his efforts to reform the mental health field. He has created a new organization to bring together professionals and laypersons concerned with a critical analysis of biopsychiatry and with more effective empathic approaches in mental health and education. Dr. Breggin often acts as a medical expert in criminal, malpractice and product liability suits. A recent precedent-setting case in Canada was based on Dr. Breggin’s testimony and written report. On September 16, 2011 in Winnipeg, a Provincial judge concluded that Prozac caused a sixteen-year-old boy to knife a friend to death. Recently Dr. Breggin was the medical expert in the first psychosurgery malpractice suit and also the first ECT malpractice suit ever won in court. He has been a medical expert in many courtroom victories for individuals injured by medications, including numerous cases of tardive dyskinesia caused by neuroleptic drugs.

Nothing in the field of mental health will do more good and reduce more harm than encouraging withdrawal from psychiatric drugs. The time is past when the focus in mental health was on what drugs to take for what disorders. Now we need to focus on how to stop taking psychiatric drugs and to replace them with more person-centered, empathic approaches. The goal is no longer drug maintenance and stagnation; the goal is recovery and achieving well-being.

His new book, Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal: A Guide for Prescribers, Therapists, Patients and Families, responds to a citizen rebellion that demands, “Help us get off these drugs!” It also encourages a professional revolution among concerned therapists who want to reject the idea of enforcing “patient compliance.”

It’s time for therapists—psychologists, nurses, social workers, family therapists, and counselors—to stop pushing their clients and patients to take psychiatric drugs that cause brain damage, harm the body, and shorten their patients’ lives. In Psychiatric Drug Withdrawal, therapists will learn about psychiatric drugs to actively participate with patients and families in the medication decision-making process.

The book provides a new roadmap for prescribers, therapists, patients and their families that will enable patients to taper off their drugs and achieve emotional and physical recovery and well-being. At the same time, it provides an improved treatment approach for all patients regardless of whether they are taking psychiatric drugs.

Allison Leotta, author of ""

Allison Leotta's Website

Prominent Trial Attorney, Jack Girardi interviews Allison Leotta, who for twelve years was a federal prosecutor in Washington, D.C., where she specialized in prosecuting sex crimes, domestic violence, and crimes against children.She started writing novels because she saw heartbreaking tragedies, acts of shocking evil, and vulnerable victims every day – but also moments of real heroism, true love, and healing. Given the stories she witnessed, the rich cast of characters she worked with, and her lifelong love of fiction, she had to write some books.

She wanted to create stories that would both entertain and teach about the way the criminal justice system works—and doesn’t work. At the heart of many of these stories is the intersection of love and hate. Many crimes stem from love gone wrong, and are committed by the victim’s most trusted ally: a spouse, lover, friend, or parent. Her protagonist, sex-crimes and domestic-violence prosecutor Anna Curtis sees the worst things that people do to their loved ones. Her books explore Anna’s dark childhood, which drew her to this job, as well as the effects that living in this violent world have on her personal life today, as she struggles to have a happy and normal romantic life.

Her first novel, LAW OF ATTRACTION, was written in the spaces of my life between prosecuting and mommying. She started writing while she was pregnant with her first son.

In 2010, Simon & Schuster published LAW OF ATTRACTION. The Washington Post called it “a racy legal thriller taking on a still-taboo subject.” Suspense Magazine named it one of the best books of the year, and Library Journal gave it a starred review, calling it “riveting.”

Steve Murphy, Executive Producer & Host