Is It Me or My Meds?

David Karp records voices of ordinary people with depression; in so doing he tells us what it's like to take one of the commonest types of drugs for one of the commonest disorders. And what it's like is as complex as people and depression are in America in our time. A revealing book! -- Arthur Kleinman, author of What Really Matters
Laying bare his own lifelong struggle with depression and often having to juggle a veritable cocktail of drugs, Karp says he has often wondered whether his personality is his own or just some kicked-up by-product of the meds. Even though the answer remains elusive, at least for him, he seems to be in good company, and his story combines with the alternately plaintive and upbeat psychiatric drug experiences of 50 interviewees, all diagnosed with various mental illnesses, to put a poignant face behind the title question. -- Donna Chavez * Booklist *
In his sociological examination of the growing pill-popping population, Karp does not reveal himself to be for or against antidepressants. His bias is in favor of self authenticity, something frequently lost in medication. -- Pam Lilley * Cleveland Plain Dealer *
In a 21st-century spin on Cartesian dualism, many of the millions of Americans taking psychotropic drugs wonder where their "authentic" self ends and the "drugged" one begins. Or, as Boston College sociology professor David A. Karp puts it, "Is it me or my meds?" Karp doesn't answer with statistics from drug trials or clinical and academic studies. Instead, he uses 50 in-depth interviews with the "experts"--adults and teens who take drugs for mental illness. The common and divergent strands of their stories are pieced together in a study informed by current sociological literature and Karp's longtime struggle with his own drug regimen (his "partial victory" easing off his antianxiety and antidepression meds opens the book). The question posed in the title remains unanswered, though, perhaps because it's not an either/or proposition. Rather, Karp argues persuasively that "it" might just be us, our meds, and the society we live in. -- Hannah Lobel * Utne *
Karp sets out to weave the opinions he has collected from people who use psychotropic medication into a fascinating, incisive, and comprehensive essay. Indeed, the debate on psychiatric medications extends far beyond side-effects and drug effectiveness; incorporating questions of identity, social acceptance, the dominance of the biomedical model of disease, and the role of the drug industry in medicalising normal feelings for profit. The more I read, the more I agreed with Karp; taking a pill, is not simply taking a pill. Karp explores the conflicting concerns facing those who are prescribed such treatment. Is It Me or My Meds? offers doctors an insight into the difficult choices their patients face, but its greatest value may lie in showing those who take antidepressants that they are not alone. Understanding patients' views on this issue is an important part of deciding whether the U.S. public should be prescribed another $12 billion dollars of antidepressants next year. -- Lindsay Banham * The Lancet *
Karp sets out to weave the opinions he has collected from people who use psycho-tropic medication into a fascinating, incisive, and comprehensive essay. Indeed, the debate on psychiatric medications extends far beyond side-effects and drug effectiveness; incorporating questions of identity, social acceptance, the dominance of the biomedical model of disease, and the role of the drug industry in medicalising normal feelings for profit. -- Lindsay Banham * Lancet *