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Happy Pills in America: From Miltown to Prozac Paperback – October 1, 2010
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Valium. Paxil. Prozac. Prescribed by the millions each year, these medications have been hailed as wonder drugs and vilified as numbing and addictive crutches. Where did this "blockbuster drug" phenomenon come from? What factors led to the mass acceptance of tranquilizers and antidepressants? And how has their widespread use affected American culture?
David Herzberg addresses these questions by tracing the rise of psychiatric medicines, from Miltown in the 1950s to Valium in the 1970s to Prozac in the 1990s. The result is more than a story of doctors and patients. From bare-knuckled marketing campaigns to political activism by feminists and antidrug warriors, the fate of psychopharmacology has been intimately wrapped up in the broader currents of modern American history. Beginning with the emergence of a medical marketplace for psychoactive drugs in the postwar consumer culture, Herzberg traces how "happy pills" became embroiled in Cold War gender battles and the explosive politics of the "war against drugs"—and how feminists brought the two issues together in a dramatic campaign against Valium addiction in the 1970s. A final look at antidepressants shows that even the Prozac phenomenon owed as much to commerce and culture as to scientific wizardry.
With a barrage of "ask your doctor about" advertisements competing for attention with shocking news of drug company malfeasance, Happy Pills is an invaluable look at how the commercialization of medicine has transformed American culture since the end of World War II.
- Print length296 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherJohns Hopkins University Press
- Publication dateOctober 1, 2010
- Dimensions6 x 0.66 x 9 inches
- ISBN-100801898145
- ISBN-13978-0801898143
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Editorial Reviews
Review
―Allan V. Horwitz, Ph.D., New England Journal of Medicine
By placing human action at the heart of this culturally rich history, Herzberg has written a masterful account of the travels of 'happy pills' from Madison Avenue to your medicine cabinet.
―Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
Do read this book. It will make you even more thoughtful about your next prescription for antidepressants.
―British Medical Journal
Herzberg does an excellent job of expounding on the interplay of social, cultural, and commercial forces that influenced the rise and fall of these blockbuster drugs.
―Journal of Clinical Investigation
Herzberg deftly explains the dispensing of 'happy pills' within the prism of Cold War class consciousness while the US fought a discordant contemporaneous 'war on drugs.'
―Choice
[Avoids] heated debates between advocates of psychotropic medication such as Peter Kramer and vocal critics such as Peter Breggin and David Healy. Instead, Herzberg shows us how the meanings attached to such drugs evolved from a complex interplay of shifting interests, including those of marketers, patients and doctors. Although the story is a complicated one, it is highly readable and Herzberg tells it using plain, non-technical language.
―Metapsychology
The book admirably achieves its main aim: describing the reception of tranquilizers in the popular imagination of postwar America. It also draws attention to the important issue of happiness as an increasingly medicalized commodity in that context.
―Nicolas Rasmussen, Bulletin of the History of Medicine
A brilliant book, rich and mind-bending . . . Unlike most others on the subject, Happy Pills seeks not to condemn or celebrate but to understand. I find it hard not to praise it too much, not to become a marketing tool urging its wider distribution and intellectual consumption.
―Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, Business History Review
Herzberg eloquently guides us through the world of happy pills in post–World War II America . . . Happy Pills is an engaging, insightful, and well-researched book that makes a strong contribution to the historical and social study of science.
―Lorna Ronald, Journal of American History
Herzberg is a a social historian and meticulous auditor of the progress of psychotropic medication in the USA . . . On the one hand these drugs offer escape from the stresses and strains of socio-economic relations; on the other hand they are a direct product of those relations.
―David Pilgrim, Sociology of Health and Illness
Truly a dizzying array of data on the history of the science, commerce, marketing, medicine, psychiatry and psychology, all aspects of the history of the pills, is a major achievement . . . Herzberg's book, exemplifying history of medicine as a thoroughly interdisciplinary field, is important and timely.
―Susan K. Rishworth, Pharmacy in History
An incisive cultural history that documents the transformation of these medications into 'happy pills' for the middle class.
―Peter Conrad, Contexts
Welcome and informative . . . a kind of protest against the tendency to assume that the issues surrounding psychiatric drug use can be reduced to scientific or technological factors.
―American Historical Review
This well-crafted book combines historical perspectives with the enduring issues of consumerism, patients' rights, ethical principles, and the role of pharmaceutical companies in marketing medicines.
―Technology and Culture
Highlights important implications of the cultural embrace of lifestyle drugs for dealing with everyday problems of living.
―BioSocieties
A timely book, persuasive and well documented.
―Psychiatric Services
This extremely well-written and well-researched book demands, and deserves, a wide audience.
―Medical History
Written with verve, it offers myriad ways to understand the complexity and range of its subject. Not only does it illuminate American drug cultures; it also demonstrates the rich interplay of invention, marketing, advertising, expertise, regulation, medical practice, and consumption.
―Helen Lefkowitz Horowitz, Business History Review
An excellent starting point from which to explore many changes in post-war American psychiatry, changes that have affected the way in which we conceptualize, analyse and treat mental illness.
―Matthew Smith , History of Psychiatry
[An] intriguing book.
―David Pilgrim, Sociology of Health and Illness
Happy Pills provides readers, especially college-level students, with an excellent historical introduction to the subject of mood-altering prescription drugs as used in the United States in the post-World War II era. Herzberg's clear and readable prose masks in part the depth of his understanding and analysis of the topic. In addition to its classroom potential, this is a serious book with valuable insights for scholars in the field.
―Journal of the History of Medicine
Herzberg steers a very steady course through dangerous waters. Happy Pills is a beautiful read, its thesis engaging, and its style well-paced and fresh. Its non-technical language and focus on the interaction between drugs and the broader culture should appeal to many readers regardless of specialization.
―David Healy, author of Mania: A Short History of Bipolar Disorder
Happy Pills in America offers an extraordinary analysis of how tranquilizers and antidepressants were as much a part of the post-World War II consumer society as suburban living and the car culture. Whether Americans bought or sold, advertised or prescribed, embraced or condemned these feel-good pills, they participated in commodifying the 'good life.'
―Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America
Review
Happy Pills in America offers an extraordinary analysis of how tranquilizers and antidepressants were as much a part of the post-World War II consumer society as suburban living and the car culture. Whether Americans bought or sold, advertised or prescribed, embraced or condemned these feel-good pills, they participated in commodifying the 'good life.'
-- Lizabeth CohenFrom the Inside Flap
David Herzberg follows the rise of psychiatric medicines, from Miltown in the 1950s to Valium in the 1970s to Prozac in the 1990s. After a market for psychoactive drugs emerged in the postwar consumer culture, "happy pills" became embroiled in Cold War gender battles and the explosive politics of the "war against drugs". In a dramatic campaign against Valium addiction, feminists brought the two issues together in the 1970s. The Prozac phenomenon, too, owed as much to commerce and culture as to scientific achievement. Happy Pills is an invaluable look at how the commercialization of medicine has transformed American culture since the end of World War II.
Excellent . . . stresses the dynamics of sex roles and social class that underlie the culture of psychotropic drug use.--New England Journal of Medicine
Draws attention to the important issue of happiness as an increasingly medicalized commodity in that context.--Bulletin of the History of Medicine
By placing human action at the heart of this culturally rich history, Herzberg has written a masterful account of the travels of 'happy pills' from Madison Avenue to your medicine cabinet.--Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
A brilliant book, rich and mind-bending . . . Unlike most others on the subject, Happy Pills seeks not to condemn or celebrate but to understand.--Business History Review
Herzberg eloquently guides us through the world of happy pills in post-World War II America . . . Engaging, insightful, and well researched.--Journal of American History
David Herzberg is an assistant professor of history at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
--Lizabeth Cohen, author of A Consumers' Republic: The Politics of Mass Consumption in Postwar America "Sociology of Health and Illness"From the Back Cover
David Herzberg follows the rise of psychiatric medicines, from Miltown in the 1950s to Valium in the 1970s to Prozac in the 1990s. After a market for psychoactive drugs emerged in the postwar consumer culture, “happy pills” became embroiled in Cold War gender battles and the explosive politics of the “war against drugs”. In a dramatic campaign against Valium addiction, feminists brought the two issues together in the 1970s. The Prozac phenomenon, too, owed as much to commerce and culture as to scientific achievement. Happy Pills is an invaluable look at how the commercialization of medicine has transformed American culture since the end of World War II.
"Excellent . . . stresses the dynamics of sex roles and social class that underlie the culture of psychotropic drug use."―New England Journal of Medicine
"Draws attention to the important issue of happiness as an increasingly medicalized commodity in that context."―Bulletin of the History of Medicine
"By placing human action at the heart of this culturally rich history, Herzberg has written a masterful account of the travels of 'happy pills' from Madison Avenue to your medicine cabinet."―Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences
"A brilliant book, rich and mind-bending . . . Unlike most others on the subject, Happy Pills seeks not to condemn or celebrate but to understand."―Business History Review
"Herzberg eloquently guides us through the world of happy pills in post–World War II America . . . Engaging, insightful, and well researched."―Journal of American History
David Herzberg is an assistant professor of history at the State University of New York at Buffalo.
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Product details
- Publisher : Johns Hopkins University Press; 1st edition (October 1, 2010)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 296 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0801898145
- ISBN-13 : 978-0801898143
- Item Weight : 14.4 ounces
- Dimensions : 6 x 0.66 x 9 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #2,010,686 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #2,164 in Depression (Books)
- #3,674 in Substance Abuse Recovery
- #7,113 in History & Philosophy of Science (Books)
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While Herzberg examines the role of race and class, gender stands out in his analysis. He writes of the work of Miltown advertisers, “It was these images that helped circulate influential new biological narratives of masculinity” (pg. 48). Critics of tranquilizers later viewed them as “women’s drugs,” but Herzberg demonstrates how they served to combat fears of weakening masculinity in the postwar years (pg. 49). For this, he builds upon the studies of neurasthenia, a condition Gail Bederman examined in her monograph, "Manliness and Civilization". Advertisers of Miltown and other tranquilizers suggested the drugs would help patients return to traditional gender roles and thereby cure their anxiety, but feminists argued the medications served to cover-up the issue that created anxiety – social inequality. Attempts to impose federal oversight over tranquilizers faced difficulty due to an incomplete model of addiction, but changing attitudes and new concepts of masculinity eventually made this possible (pg. 111). Women who worked to expose the dangers of tranquilizers did so in a manner that privileged middle class white women. While their work helped encourage patient activists, it was a product of its time (pg. 148). In response to this, manufacturers of Prozac portrayed it “as a ‘feminist drug’ that made women more assertive and competitive – ‘supermoms’ with careers who laid to rest images of Valium-stoned stat-at-home wives” (pg. 177).
Herzberg’s work uncovers the role of modern commercialized medicine in shaping all aspects of society, from gender to criminal law. Without postwar consumer culture and second-wave feminism, along with nineteenth century psychological theories and medicine, modern pharmaceuticals would not play the role they currently occupy in society. Most importantly, Herzberg demonstrates how people orchestrated and shaped these events rather than portraying them as occurring spontaneously.
Top reviews from other countries
It was a good book about the rise of some psychoprophylaxi drugs, but I didn't go into enough details for me about how we got to the point we are in where it seems like everyone is on some kind of drug. It doesn't tell about the history of the drugs, or how we need to get off these mind controlling drugs, that are poisoning are bodies.