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On Being Ill: with Notes from Sick Rooms by Julia Stephen
by Virginia; Stephen WoolfThis new publication of On Being Ill with Notes from Sick Rooms presents Virginia Woolf and her mother Julia Stephen in textual conversation for the first time in literary history. In the poignant and humorous essay On Being Ill, Virginia Woolf observes that though illness is a part of every human being's experience, it is not celebrated as a subject of great literature in the way that love and war are embraced by writers and readers. We must, Woolf says, invent a new language to describe pain. Illness, she observes, enhances our perceptions and reduces self-consciousness; it is "the great confessional." Woolf discusses the taboos associated with illness and she explores how it changes our relationship to the world around us. Notes from Sick Rooms addresses illness from the caregiver's perspective. With clarity, humor, and pathos, Julia Stephen offers concrete and useful information to caregivers today.Originally published by Paris Press in 2002 as On Being Ill, this paperback edition includes an introduction to Notes from Sick Rooms and to Julia Stephen by Mark Hussey, the founding editor of Woolf Studies Annual, and a poignant afterword by Rita Charon, MD, the founder of the field of Narrative Medicine. Hermione Lee's brilliant introduction to On Being Ill is a superb introduction to Virginia Woolf's life and writing. This book is embraced by the general public, the literary world, and the medical world.
On Blindness: Letters Between Bryan Magee and Martin Milligan
by Bryan Magee Martin MilliganOn Blindness asks fascinating questions about the world of the blind, including: How can the born-blind know they are blind? Can a blind person play a game of snooker? How does a blind person dream? On Blindness open the eyes of the sighted to the world as experienced by the blind, offering a unique opportunity to explore the challenges, frustrations,joys--and extraordinary insights--experienced in discovering the world without sight. What difference does sight--or its absence--make to our ideas about the world? What begins as a philosophical exchange between the noted philosopher and broadcaster Bryan Magee and the late Martin Milligan, activist and philosopher--blind almost from birth-- develops into an intense and personal discussion of the implications of blindness. The debate is vigorous and often heated; sometimes contentious, it is always stimulating. They discuss the whole spectrum of blind-experience, including the born-blind, those who lose their sight, and those forced to come to terms with the shock of gaining a sight they had never possessed. This extraordinary book casts new light on one of the most fundamental aspects of human experience. It will make fascinating reading for anyone interested insight and blindness from a personal, practical, or philosophical point of view.
On The Bringing Up Of Children (International Library Of Psychology Ser.)
by Rickman, JohnFirst Published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service
by Anthony FauciThe memoir by the doctor who became a beacon of hope for millions through the COVID pandemic, and whose six-decade career in high-level public service put him in the room with seven presidents <P><P> Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous – and most revered – doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was only the most recent of the global epidemics in which Dr. Fauci played a major role. His crucial role in researching HIV and bringing AIDS into sympathetic public view and his leadership in navigating the Ebola, SARS, West Nile, and anthrax crises, make him truly an American hero. <P><P> His memoir reaches back to his boyhood in Brooklyn, New York, and carries through decades of caring for critically ill patients, navigating the whirlpools of Washington politics, and behind-the-scenes advising and negotiating with seven presidents on key issues from global AIDS relief to infectious disease preparedness at home. ON CALL will be an inspiration for readers who admire and are grateful to him and for those who want to emulate him in public service. He is the embodiment of “speaking truth to power,” with dignity and results. <p> <b>New York Times Bestseller</b>
On Call: A Doctor's Days and Nights in Residency
by Emily R. TransueOn Call begins with a newly-minted doctor checking in for her first day of residency--wearing the long white coat of an MD and being called "Doctor" for the first time. Having studied at Yale and Dartmouth, Dr. Emily Transue arrives in Seattle to start her internship in Internal Medicine just after graduating from medical school. This series of loosely interconnected scenes from the author's medical training concludes her residency three years later.During her first week as a student on the medical wards, Dr. Transue watched someone come into the emergency room in cardiac arrest and die. Nothing like this had ever happened to her before-it was a long way from books and labs. So she began to record her experiences as she gained confidence putting her book knowledge to work.The stories focus on the patients Dr. Transue encountered in the hospital, ER and clinic; some are funny and others tragic. They range in scope from brief interactions in the clinic to prolonged relationships during hospitalization. There is a man newly diagnosed with lung cancer who is lyrical about his life on a sunny island far away, and a woman, just released from a breathing machine after nearly dying, who sits up and demands a cup of coffee.Though the book has a great deal of medical content, the focus is more on the stories of the patients' lives and illnesses and the relationships that developed between the patients and the author, and the way both parties grew in the course of these experiences.Along the way, the book describes the life of a resident physician and reflects on the way the medical system treats both its patients and doctors. On Call provides a window into the experience of patients at critical junctures in life and into the author's own experience as a new member of the medical profession.
On-Call Geriatric Psychiatry
by Ana Hategan James A. Bourgeois Calvin H. HirschThis text covers basic principles and practice of on-call psychiatric care in the geriatric patient in various medical settings. It compiles the most likely complaints and provides assessment and management tools for each situation. Written and edited by expert geriatric psychiatrists, emergency psychiatrists, consultation/liaison psychiatrists, geriatricians, and other multidisciplinary specialists, this is the first handbook devoted to on-call geriatric psychiatry. Chapters contain an important summary of key points for managing clinical situations, case studies, and reflective questions. This text brings together relevant principles of on-call geriatric psychiatry provided in clinical settings such as emergency, acute and subacute inpatient, outpatient, residential, correctional, and consultation/liaison. It includes clinical topics such as psychopharmacology, psychotherapy, substance abuse, and includes coverage of medical ethics and the law, utilization of contemporary technology, and administrative and public health policy. On-Call Geriatric Psychiatry is the first practical guide to knit together evidence-based medicine and geriatric psychiatric principles and practice guidelines and is a valuable resource for trainees, psychiatrists, geriatricians, emergency departments, nursing home physicians, and other health professionals working with older adult patients.
On Call in Hell: A Doctor's Iraq War Story
by Thomas Hayden Richard JadickThe author tells his experiences of working in Fallujah at one of the bloodiest battles in Iraq.
On Call in the Arctic: A Doctor's Pursuit Of Life, Love, And Miracles In The Alaskan Frontier
by Thomas J. SimsAn extraordinary memoir recounting the adventures of a young doctor stationed in the Alaskan bush. The fish-out-of-water stories of Northern Exposure and Doc Martin meet the rough-and-rugged setting of The Discovery Channel’s Alaskan Bush People in Thomas J. Sims’s On Call in the Arctic, where the author relates his incredible experience saving lives in one of the most remote outposts in North America. Imagine a young doctor, trained in the latest medical knowledge and state-of-the-art equipment, suddenly transported back to one of the world’s most isolated and unforgiving environments—Nome, Alaska. Dr. Sims’ plans to become a pediatric surgeon drastically changed when, on the eve of being drafted into the Army to serve as a M.A.S.H. surgeon in Vietnam, he was offered a commission in the U.S. Public Health for assignment in Anchorage, Alaska. In Anchorage, Dr. Sims was scheduled to act as Chief of Pediatrics at the Alaska Native Medical Center. Life changed, along with his military orders, when he learned he was being transferred from Anchorage to work as the only physician in Nome. There, he would have the awesome responsibility of rendering medical care under archaic conditions to the population of this frontier town plus thirteen Eskimo villages in the surrounding Norton Sound area. And he would do it alone with little help and support. All the while, he was pegged as both an “outsider” and an employee of the much-derided federal government. In order to do his job, Dr. Sims had to overcome racism, cultural prejudices, and hostility from those who would like to see him sent packing. On Call in the Arctic reveals the thrills and the terrors of frontier medicine, where Dr. Sims must rely upon his instincts, improvise, and persevere against all odds in order to help his patients on the icy shores of the Bering Sea.
On Call Radiology
by Gareth Lewis Shahid Hussain Sachin Modi Hiten PatelOn-Call Radiology presents case discussions on the most common and important clinical emergencies and their corresponding imaging findings encountered on-call. Cases are divided into thoracic, gastrointestinal and genitourinary, neurological and non-traumatic spinal, paediatric, trauma, interventional and vascular imaging. Iatrogenic complications are also discussed. <P><P>Each case is presented as a realistic clinical scenario and includes a clinical history and request for imaging. Multi-modality imaging examples and a case discussion on the diagnosis and basic management, with emphasis on important radiological findings, are also presented. <P><P>This book combines a case-based discussion format with practical advice on imaging decision making in the acute setting. It also offers guidance on radiology report writing and techniques, with a focus on relevant positive and negative findings to pass on to referring clinicians. On-call Radiology offers invaluable knowledge and practical tips for any on-call radiologist.
On Depression: Drugs, Diagnosis, and Despair in the Modern World
by S. Nassir GhaemiLasting happiness comes not from chasing the American dream but from living an authentic life—which includes despair.In a culture obsessed with youth, financial success, and achieving happiness, is it possible to live an authentic, meaningful life? Nassir Ghaemi, director of the Mood Disorder Program at Tufts Medical Center, reflects on our society's current quest for happiness and rejection of any emotion resembling sadness. On Depression asks readers to consider the benefits of despair and the foibles of an unexamined life. Too often depression as disease is mistreated or not treated at all. Ghaemi warns against the "pretenders" who confuse our understanding of depression—both those who deny disease and those who use psychiatric diagnosis "pragmatically" or unscientifically. But experiencing sadness, even depression, can also have benefits. Ghaemi asserts that we can create a "narrative of ourselves such that we know and accept who we are," leading to a deeper, lasting level of contentment and a more satisfying personal and public life. Depression is complex, and we need guides to help us understand it, guides who comprehend it existentially as part of normal human experience and clinically as sometimes needing the right kind of treatment, including medications. Ghaemi discusses these guides in detail, thinkers like Viktor Frankl, Rollo May, Karl Jaspers, and Leston Havens, among others. On Depression combines examples from philosophy and the history of medicine with psychiatric principles informed by the author's clinical experience with people who struggle with mental illness. He has seen great achievements arise from great suffering and feels that understanding depression can provide important insights into happiness.
On Face Transplantation: Life and Ethics in Experimental Biomedicine
by Samuel Taylor-AlexanderDrawing together interview material, medical publications, and first-hand accounts, this book shows that what is being remade in the burgeoning medical field of face transplantation is not only the lives of patients, but also the very ways that state institutions, surgeons, and families make sense of rights, claims for inclusion, and life itself. This sophisticated account traces the work done by medical and bureaucratic elites to make the life threatening operation a clinical reality. Working within the context of increasing ethical scrutiny, their endeavour has resulted in the delineation of the 'ideal patient' of face transplantation: a person whose particular state of health and suffering allows the operation to be performed given current technical constraints. The operation has introduced into the lives of face transplant recipients a profoundly new sense of personhood in which they continue to negotiate questions of how to relate to their new biology and to those around them.
On Fertile Ground: A Natural History of Human Reproduction
by Peter T. EllisonReproduction is among the most basic of human biological functions, both for our distant ancestors and for ourselves, whether we live on the plains of Africa or in North American suburbs. Our reproductive biology unites us as a species, but it has also been an important engine of our evolution. In the way our bodies function today we can see both the imprint of our formative past and implications for our future. It is the infinitely subtle and endlessly dramatic story of human reproduction and its evolutionary context that Peter T. Ellison tells in On Fertile Ground. <P><P>Ranging from the latest achievements of modern fertility clinics to the lives of subsistence farmers in the rain forests of Africa, this book offers both a remarkably broad and a minutely detailed exploration of human reproduction. Ellison, a leading pioneer in the field, combines the perspectives of anthropology, stressing the range and variation of human experience; ecology, sensitive to the two-way interactions between humans and their environments; and evolutionary biology, emphasizing a functional understanding of human reproductive biology and its role in our evolutionary history. <P><P>Whether contrasting female athletes missing their periods and male athletes using anabolic steroids with Polish farm women and hunter-gatherers in Paraguay, or exploring the intricate choreography of an implanting embryo or of a nursing mother and her child, On Fertile Ground advances a rich and deeply satisfying explanation of the mechanisms by which we reproduce and the evolutionary forces behind their design.
On Holiday Again, Doctor? (The Dr Clifford Chronicles)
by Dr Robert CliffordGastro-enteritis in Marrakesh, kidney stones in the Sahara, a wrenched sternum in Faro, bizarre accidents on a peaceful day's angling . . . It all goes to show that - as their patients would firmly agree - doctors shouldn't go on holiday.In On Holiday Again, Doctor? everyone's favourite West Country G.P. beguiles us with more colourful portraits of family and friends, colleagues and patients; improbable - but true - anecdotes of holidays at home and abroad; some serious comment on the medical profession; and an introduction to the gentle art of nearly going somewhere . . .
On Holiday Again, Doctor?
by Robert CliffordGastro-enteritis in Marrakesh, kidney stones in the Sahara, a wrenched sternum in Faro, bizarre accidents on a peaceful day's angling . . . It all goes to show that - as their patients would firmly agree - doctors shouldn't go on holiday. In On Holiday Again, Doctor? everyone's favourite West Country G.P. beguiles us with more colourful portraits of family and friends, colleagues and patients; improbable - but true - anecdotes of holidays at home and abroad; some serious comment on the medical profession; and an introduction to the gentle art of nearly going somewhere . . .
On Hysteria: The Invention of a Medical Category between 1670 and 1820
by Sabine ArnaudThese days, hysteria is known as a discredited diagnosis that was used to group and pathologize a wide range of conditions and behaviors in women. But for a long time, it was seen as a legitimate category of medical problem--and one that, originally, was applied to men as often as to women. In On Hysteria, Sabine Arnaud traces the creation and rise of hysteria, from its invention in the eighteenth century through nineteenth-century therapeutic practice. Hysteria took shape, she shows, as a predominantly aristocratic malady, only beginning to cross class boundaries (and be limited to women) during the French Revolution. Unlike most studies of the role and status of medicine and its categories in this period, On Hysteria focuses not on institutions but on narrative strategies and writing--the ways that texts in a wide range of genres helped to build knowledge through misinterpretation and recontextualized citation. Powerfully interdisciplinary, and offering access to rare historical material for the first time in English, On Hysteria will speak to scholars in a wide range of fields, including the history of science, French studies, and comparative literature.
On Immunity: An Inoculation
by Eula BissA New York Times Best SellerA National Book Critics Circle Award FinalistA New York Times Book Review Top 10 Book of the YearA Facebook "Year of Books" SelectionOne of the Best Books of the Year* National Book Critics Circle Award finalist * The New York Times Book Review (Top 10) * Entertainment Weekly (Top 10) * New York Magazine (Top 10)* Chicago Tribune (Top 10) * Publishers Weekly (Top 10) * Time Out New York (Top 10) * Los Angeles Times * Kirkus * Booklist * NPR's Science Friday * Newsday * Slate * Refinery 29 * And many more...Why do we fear vaccines? A provocative examination by Eula Biss, the author of Notes from No Man's Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle AwardUpon becoming a new mother, Eula Biss addresses a chronic condition of fear-fear of the government, the medical establishment, and what is in your child's air, food, mattress, medicine, and vaccines. She finds that you cannot immunize your child, or yourself, from the world. In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body. As she hears more and more fears about vaccines, Biss researches what they mean for her own child, her immediate community, America, and the world, both historically and in the present moment. She extends a conversation with other mothers to meditations on Voltaire's Candide, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Susan Sontag's AIDS and Its Metaphors, and beyond. On Immunity is a moving account of how we are all interconnected-our bodies and our fates.
On Immunity: An Inoculation
by Eula BissOne of New York Times Best 10 Books of 2014. <P><P> Why do we fear vaccines? A provocative examination by Eula Biss, the author of Notes from No Man's Land, winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award<P> Upon becoming a new mother, Eula Biss addresses a chronic condition of fear--fear of the government, the medical establishment, and what is in your child's air, food, mattress, medicine, and vaccines. She finds that you cannot immunize your child, or yourself, from the world.<P> In this bold, fascinating book, Biss investigates the metaphors and myths surrounding our conception of immunity and its implications for the individual and the social body. As she hears more and more fears about vaccines, Biss researches what they mean for her own child, her immediate community, America, and the world, both historically and in the present moment. She extends a conversation with other mothers to meditations on Voltaire's Candide, Bram Stoker's Dracula, Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, Susan Sontag's AIDS and Its Metaphors, and beyond. On Immunity is a moving account of how we are all interconnected--our bodies and our fates.<P> Chosen for Mark Zuckerberg's "A Year of Books"
On Locations: Lessons Learned from My Life On Set with The Sopranos and in the Film Industry
by MARK KAMINECelebrating 25 years of The Sopranos: The executive producer of The White Lotus shares how he got his start in film and television production on &“the greatest TV show of all time&” (Rolling Stone)An inside look at the film industry for fans, students, and aspiring professionals — featuring a foreword by Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning creator of The White Lotus, Mike WhiteThis page-turning account of starting at the lowest rung on the production ladder among enormously famous & outrageously demanding people will be devoured for its insights, gossip, humor, & storytelling. Married and with a child, the author takes unpaid gigs to get a foot in the door, and eventually ends up working on all seasons of The Sopranos, often named the best TV show ever.The show's setting and its creator's insistence on accuracy placed the native New Jersey author in the right place at the right time to become part of television history, and to witness the effects of sudden fame and acclaim on the show's principal players.Includes many stories about guest stars like Steve Buscemi, Peter Bogdanovich, and Lauren Bacall, as well as the beloved cast, including new tales of James Gandolfini, who Kamine first meets after David Chase casts him as the Dean of Admissions in the classic first season "College" episode. Later, after he&’s been promoted, Kamine gets the calls from Gandolfini when he's hungover, or still drunk, and might or might not make it to the shoot that day. One night, Kamine tries to prevent Gandolfini from taking a swim in the ocean after they've been drinking all night, telling him it could be dangerous but Jim doesn't listen.Woven in is a personal story of home life and strife, achievement and frustration, anxiety and accomplishment. The book's epilogue brings readers up to the moment as the author, after many more years as an anonymous everyman, eventually enjoys outsize professional success as executive producer of the HBO hit series created by Mike White, The White Lotus.
On Moral Medicine: Theological Perspectives on Medical Ethics
by Allen Verhey M. Therese Lysaught Joseph Kotva Stephen E. LammersIn print for more than two decades, On Moral Medicine remains the definitive anthology for Christian theological reflection on medical ethics. This third edition updates and expands the earlier awardwinning volumes, providing classrooms and individuals alike with one of the finest available resources for ethics-engaged modern medicine.
On My Way Back to You: One Couple's Journey through Catastrophic Illness to Healing and Hope
by Sarah CartSarah Cart&’s On My Way Back to You is a first-hand account of the rollercoaster world of lifesaving transplants and the unimaginable challenges Sarah faced as she struggled to manage her husband&’s devastating illness and to save his life, their marriage, and her own sanity. Throughout her 42-year marriage, writer Sarah Cart has enjoyed a life of &“gloriously controlled chaos,&” as she and her husband Ben, a successful entrepreneur and seasoned outdoorsman, embarked on numerous adventures with their four active sons. Then the unthinkable happened. In suspenseful and heartrending detail, Cart shares how Ben developed an incurable autoimmune condition that was manageable and under control one minute and threatened to kill him the next, landing him in the ICU as the Covid pandemic closed the world down. Thrust into the role of nurse and caregiver, Sarah joined the ranks of 39 million Americans who champion and care for an ailing loved one. In addition to confronting doubts, fears, and endless setbacks, aggravations, and red tape, she also had to consent to daunting procedures on Ben&’s behalf. Too, there were the months-long Covid-era restrictions on hospital visitations and the post-surgery snafus with home healthcare personnel. Thank goodness for the heartfelt communiques with family and friends, all of which reflect the faith, fortitude, grit, and grace that sustained her. While readers will identify with Sarah&’s anxieties and be moved by hers and Ben&’s strength, they will also learn the questions to ask, the notes to take, the signs to never overlook, and the self-care necessary should they ever find themselves in her shoes. On My Way Back to You is a profoundly inspirational account of one couple&’s medical odyssey and the patience, determination, and love that ultimately helped them find their way back to one another.
On Rotation: The perfect will-they-won't-they romance for fans of GREY'S ANATOMY and THE LOVE HYPOTHESIS
by Shirlene Obuobi'As a fan of Grey's Anatomy (and Chicago Med!), I couldn't put down On Rotation, and you won't be able to, either... I personally couldn't get enough' MEG CABOT 'A smart, fun rom-com. What I loved most about the book was the fact that the love interest was just as delightfully flawed and three-dimensional as the heroine, and that made me root for their happy ending all the more' BETH O'LEARY Ghanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the 'Perfect Immigrant Daughter': enroll in an elite medical school; snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend, and surround herself with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends... But when her boyfriend dumps her, her best friend pulls away, and she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, Angie finds herself in the middle of a quarter life crisis of epic proportions. To make matters worse, her parents are suddenly a lot less proud of their daughter, now that she's not following through with the path they chose for her. Just when things couldn't get any more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez - brilliant, thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent. Unfortunately, he's also got 'wasteman' practically tattooed across his forehead, and Angie's done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks... For someone who's always been in control, Angie realizes that there's one thing she can't plan on: matters of her heart.For fans of Grey's Anatomy and Seven Days in June, this dazzling debut novel by Shirlene Obuobi explores that time in your life when you must decide what you want, how to get it, and who you are, all while navigating love, friendship, and the realization that the path you're traveling is going to be a bumpy ride. 'Narrated by a strong lead with an unforgettable voice, On Rotation is an original romance novel bursting with charm, humor and the most loveable characters. I'm besotted with Angie and her posse!' LIZZIE DAMILOLA BLACKBURN, author of Yinka, Where is Your Huzband?
On Rotation
by Shirlene ObuobiGhanaian-American Angela Appiah has checked off all the boxes for the 'Perfect Immigrant Daughter': enroll in an elite medical school; snag a suitable lawyer/doctor/engineer boyfriend, and surround herself with a gaggle of successful and/or loyal friends... But when her boyfriend dumps her, her best friend pulls away, and she bombs the most important exam of her medical career, Angie finds herself in the middle of a quarter life crisis of epic proportions. To make matters worse, her parents are suddenly a lot less proud of their daughter, now that she's not following through with the path they chose for her.Just when things couldn't get any more complicated, enter Ricky Gutierrez - brilliant, thoughtful, sexy, and most importantly, seems to see Angie for who she is instead of what she can represent. Unfortunately, he's also got 'wasteman' practically tattooed across his forehead, and Angie's done chasing mirages of men. Or so she thinks... For someone who's always been in control, Angie realizes that there's one thing she can't plan on: matters of her heart.For fans of Grey's Anatomy and Seven Days in June, this dazzling debut novel by Shirlene Obuobi explores that time in your life when you must decide what you want, how to get it, and who you are, all while navigating love, friendship, and the realization that the path you're traveling is going to be a bumpy ride.* ONE OF TEEN VOGUE'S '25 BOOKS BY BLACK AUTHORS THEY CAN'T WAIT TO READ THIS YEAR' ** ONE OF BETCHES' '22 BOOKS YOU NEED TO READ THIS YEAR'*(P) 2022 HarperCollins Publishers
On Second Thought: How Ambivalence Shapes Your Life
by William R. MillerThe rich inner world of a human being is far more complex than either/or. You can love and hate, want to go and want to stay, feel both joy and sadness. Psychologist William Miller--one of the world's leading experts on the science of change--offers a fresh perspective on ambivalence and its transformative potential in this revealing book. Rather than trying to overcome indecision by force of will, Dr. Miller explores what happens when people allow opposing arguments from their &“inner committee members&” to converse freely with each other. Learning to tolerate and even welcome feelings of ambivalence can help you get unstuck from unwanted habits, clarify your desires and values, explore the pros and cons of tough decisions, and open doorways to change. Vivid examples from everyday life, literature, and history illustrate why we are so often "of two minds," and how to work through it.
On Shame And The Search For Identity
by Lynd, Helen MerrellFirst published in 1999. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.
On Speed: From Benzedrine to Adderall
by Nicolas RasmussenLife in the Fast Lane: The author on the CHE Uppers. Crank. Bennies. Dexies. Greenies. Black Beauties. Purple Hearts. Crystal. Ice. And, of course, Speed. Whatever their street names at the moment, amphetamines have been an insistent force in American life since they were marketed as the original antidepressants in the 1930s. On Speed tells the remarkable story of their rise, their fall, and their surprising resurgence. Along the way, it discusses the influence of pharmaceutical marketing on medicine, the evolving scientific understanding of how the human brain works, the role of drugs in maintaining the social order, and the centrality of pills in American life. Above all, however, this is a highly readable biography of a very popular drug. And it is a riveting story. Incorporating extensive new research, On Speed describes the ups and downs (fittingly, there are mostly ups) in the history of amphetamines, and their remarkable pervasiveness. For example, at the same time that amphetamines were becoming part of the diet of many GIs in World War II, an amphetamine-abusing counterculture began to flourish among civilians. In the 1950s, psychiatrists and family doctors alike prescribed amphetamines for a wide variety of ailments, from mental disorders to obesity to emotional distress. By the late 1960s, speed had become a fixture in everyday life: up to ten percent of Americans were thought to be using amphetamines at least occasionally.Although their use was regulated in the 1970s, it didn't take long for amphetamines to make a major comeback, with the discovery of Attention Deficit Disorder and the role that one drug in the amphetamine family-Ritalin-could play in treating it. Today's most popular diet-assistance drugs differ little from the diet pills of years gone by, still speed at their core. And some of our most popular recreational drugs-including the "mellow" drug, Ecstasy-are also amphetamines. Whether we want to admit it or not, writes Rasmussen, we're still a nation on speed.