Antidepressant Overload in 'Comfortably Numb' In his new book, Charles Barber argues that Americans are over-prescribed antidepressants. Biological psychiatry, says Barber, is no substitute for psychotherapy.

Antidepressant Overload in 'Comfortably Numb'

Antidepressant Overload in 'Comfortably Numb'

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Charles Barber is a senior administrator at The Connection, a social services agency. Pantheon Books hide caption

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Pantheon Books

Americans are over-prescribed antidepressants, says Charles Barber, author of the new book Comfortably Numb: How Psychiatry Is Medicating a Nation. Biological psychiatry, he writes, is not a substitute for psychotherapy.

Currently a lecturer in psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, Barber worked for years in New York City shelters serving the mentally ill homeless population. He is the author of Songs from the Black Chair: A Memoir of Mental Interiors, an account of his personal experiences with mental illness.

Comfortably Numb
By Charles Barber

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Comfortably Numb
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Charles Barber

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