Psychiatric Medication and Spirituality

Societal debate about psychiatric drugs usually focuses on whether the drugs are effective or do more good than harm . In this well-written, thoughtful book, Lynne Vanderpot explores the effects of psychiatric medications through a different lens: how do the medications affect one's subjective experience of being alive, and more particularly, one's internal experience of a spiritual life? Hers is a thoughtful, clear exploration of an important subject, and on every page her respect for the users of these medications and the diversity of their experiences shines through. -- Robert Whitaker, journalist and author of 'Anatomy of an Epidemic' Drawing on twenty compelling personal stories, Vanderpot attends to a fundamental, yet neglected problem - how and why psychiatric medications either enhance or inhibit healing spiritual responses to profound emotional suffering. The data highlight the troubling myopia of exclusively biological explanations and treatments of mental illness. Here you will learn just how a range of life contingencies differently shape our perceptions and experiences of pain, pills and personhood. Many readers, grabbed by its numerous striking insights, will themselves be transformed by this innovative volume. -- David A. Karp, Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Boston College and author of 'Is It Me or My Meds? Living with Antidepressants' Unlike doctors, people who take psychiatric medication measure the success of their treatment not just on clinical outcomes, but on how the drugs affect the totality of their lives. That includes spirituality-the search for meaning and purpose, as well as the feeling of connectedness to self, others, and the divine. Vanderpot's book is sensitively written and uniquely focused, a valuable addition to the conversation about the use of medication in the real world. -- Katherine Sharpe, author of Coming of Age on Zoloft (Harper Perennial, 2012)