Prozac Diary

i loved lauren's book 'prozac diary'. i love her writing in general because she depicts her life as both beautiful and staggeringly painful. this is a difficult thing to do but writing can sometimes be a doorway out of that pain. it's very much an artform to be able to transform the pain of one's life into something useful, something that communicates and i think she does this very well. i don't believe people should be so heartless in their criticism. not every book is going to be a fit for everyone, no matter what their expectations and although not everyone can relate to this type of book i think it's hard to deny that it communicates intelligently.

I can't recommend this book highly enough. Though I don't take Prozac, I was totally touched by Slater's story of her struggle towards mental health: I laughed, I cried, I wanted to know her more and more. Her writing is excellent, and her insights thought-provoking. Also, as a psychologist, she is able to seamlessly weave into the story her knowledge of pills, drug dependency, and human behavior in a way that expands the narrative. Some of the most touching parts of the book for me, were the descriptions of her relationship with Bennett, her lover, who loves her not in spite of who she is, or was, but because of who she is--Prozac and all.

Ten years into her relationship with Eli Lilly's breakthrough antidepressant Prozac, Lauren Slater contemplates the cost her dependence holds. She notices tremors in her hands. Her memory, once a point of pride, fails her in subtle ways. Is she just getting older or is her cure exacting a physical toll? Then, there is the loss of her sex drive.There is a tradeoff here, however. For while these symptoms are troubling, and open profound questions about a drug that has no long term track history, there is the patient herself to consider. Hospitalized five times in her teens to early twenties, she was unable to hold steady employment. Ms. Slater becomes one of the early Prozac users in 1988 as the onset of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) begins to haunt her. She has carried the burden of unrelenting depression as well as a diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Contrast this with the Dr. Lauren Slater who appeared on National Public Radio's Talk of the Nation in early 1997. She has earned a master's degree in psychology from Harvard, and completed her doctorate in just two years. Her first book, Welcome to My Country, published in 1996 was critically acclaimed. Her essays have merited national recognition. Listening to her talk eloquently on the struggles of mental illness one can't help but be awed by her achievements. Clearly, the cream and green capsules Slater writes so effectively about in Prozac Diary have had a stunning impact on her own life.The 204-page book offers depth and color to arguments that have often been hardened in black and white. From press coverage earlier in this decade that once surrounded Prozac in negative controversy to recent literature that painted it as a miracle compound, rarely have we visited the subject from the middle. Slater's account is of the give and take, a wondrous return to normal life followed by the disappointment of the drug suddenly losing effectiveness. It never again has the same impact, yet she realizes she is bound to it for each time she tries to stop using it symptoms recur. At the same time one realizes in reading her moving account, that maybe the true turning point in her life is when she realizes that even without Prozac she can exert some control over her condition. The questions she digs at from so deep a personal level are fundamentally unsettling. As research into brain chemistry yields ever more effective pharmacological compounds, several issues creep into the picture. What is gained and what is lost from tampering with chemicals so closely linked to a person's sense of self? Do we lose in creativity what we gain in function? Ms. Slater finds herself concerned over an inability to write easily and by her own indifference to that fact early in her experience with Prozac. She is on the other hand amazed by her ability to perform at a level she has rarely touched beforehand. She wonders if when the drug is it yields unfair advantages. Where d

As a 21 year old who was given Prozac at the age of 18, I was more than happy to read a book chronicling the 10 year journey Ms. Slater has had with drug.The humor she mixes with the facts displays a more "normal" outlook on the lives of Zac people who are sometimes seen as not so "normal"

A deeply thoughtful meditation on what it means to have one's mental state altered by a pill, written in the same subtle and poetic voice that made Slater's earlier book "Welcome To My Country" so memorable. Slater's view of Prozac is balanced and honest; unlike other writers, she isn't out to present it as either a panacea or a poison, just to give a truthful account of what it has meant for her as an individual, encompassing both benefits and side-effects. Anyone currently trying to decide whether or not to take Prozac or any other psychiatric medication would find Slater's account valuable, whatever they ultimately decided. But the book also deserves to be read by a wider audience because of its rare combination of lyricism and intellect.