Better Than Prozac: Creating the Next Generation of Psychiatric Drugs - Book Review

Science News, July 5, 2003

SAMUEL BARONDES

Thirty years ago, psychiatrists generally prescribed medications to people with the most serious mental conditions. Today, Barondes reports, more than 100 million people around the world take psychiatric drugs. Here, he tracks the development of these medications and examines how psychopharmaceuticals are soon likely to improve. This is thanks to scientists' deepening understanding of the molecular mechanisms of the brain and advances in genetics that allow them to mimic and then study human mental illnesses in rats. Case studies combined with solid descriptions of research reveal an interesting path of development for psychiatric drugs, which has faced many stumbling blocks along the way. OUR 2003, 219 p., hardcover, $26.00.