Is It Me Or My Meds

By the millennium Americans were spending more than 12 billion dollars yearly on antidepressant medications. Currently, millions of people in the U.S. routinely use these pills. Are these miracle drugs, quickly curing depression? Or is their popularity a sign that we now inappropriately redefine normal life problems as diseases? Are they prescribed too often or too seldom? How do they affect self-images? David Karp approaches these questions from the inside, having suffered from clinical depression for most of his adult life. In this book he explores the relationship between pills and personhood by listening to a group of experts who rarely get the chance to speak on the matter--those who are taking the medications. Their voices, extracted from interviews Karp conducted, color the pages with their experiences and reactions--humor, gratitude, frustration, hope, and puzzlement. Here, the patients themselves articulate their impressions of what drugs do to them and for them. They reflect on difficult issues, such as the process of becoming committed to medication, quandaries about personal authenticity, and relations with family and friends. The stories are honest and vivid, from a distraught teenager who shuns antidepressants while regularly using street drugs to a woman who still yearns for a spiritual solution to depression even after telling intimates "I'm on Prozac and it's saving me." The book provides unflinching portraits of people attempting to make sense of a process far more complex and mysterious than doctors or pharmaceutical companies generally admit.

Yes, I Took My Meds is a raw, intimate dive into finding peace amongst the chaos. Dive into Ahiddibah's world of family, culture, and motherhood while navigating her way through the ins and outs of bipolar disorder. Written with the perfect balance of humor and humility, Ahiddibah's story is told truthfully and without restraint. It is one of courage and learning from mistakes. You will likely see bits of yourself in her story.

Here is what some very famous people had to say about, “Off My Meds”. SETH MACFARLANE - “Timeless Humor” JEFF FOXWORTHY - "If you don't laugh at this....you might not have a sense of humor!" BILLY CRYSTAL, - “"Very funny. In the tradition of Gahan Wilson!" JACK BLACK - "Funny as Hell " CHARLES SCHULZ, (Creator of “Peanuts”) - “Leslie Taha has finally made clear for me a few opinions which I have been afraid to voice myself for a long time. Finally, he has drawn for us the truth about, “The Three Bears,” “Red Ridinghood.” “Frankenstein,” courtrooms, “Humpty Dumpty,” and a few doctors and lawyers.” LOUIE ANDERSON - "Loved it. Dark, disturbing, and funny" DICK DEBARTOLO, (Writer for “Mad Magazine”) - “I laughed so much, I thought I was reading my own work! Then I realized it was SOMEONE ELSE who had written such funny stuff, and I confined my joy to broad smiling. TOM REEDER, ( Writer / producer for “Cheers” “Night Court”, and “Frasier”) - “I really enjoyed it, ... in the bizarre tradition of Virgil Partch, Gary Larson, and Jerry Van Amerongen.” For many years, Les Taha’s single panel humorous cartoons have appeared in small community newspapers, college papers, and magazines throughout the U.S. and Canada. More than likely you have seen them somewhere. His new book, “Off My Meds” is a collection of nearly 500 of his very best cartoons. They have often been compared to Gary Larson’s, “The Far Side”. The subject matter of his humor is all over the place. His targets are politicians, animals, the workplace, healthcare, fables, insects, monsters, and more. The humor is intelligent, bizarre, poignant, sick, insightful, and silly. Taha’s cartoons are so crazy and bizarre that many have suggested (and even ordered him) to get back on his meds. So for all of you sick fans who have been suffering from, “The Far Side” withdrawals, at last there is a cure. “Off My Meds” is just what the doctor ordered.

Too many Americans are taking too many drugs -- and it's costing us our health, happiness, and lives. Prescription drug use in America has increased tenfold in the past 50 years, and over-the-counter drug use has risen just as dramatically. In addition to the dozens of medications we take to treat serious illnesses, we take drugs to help us sleep, to keep us awake, to keep our noses from running, our backs from aching, and our minds from racing. Name a symptom, there's a pill to suppress it. Modern drugs can be miraculously life-saving, and many illnesses demand their use. But what happens when our reliance on powerful pharmaceuticals blinds us to their risks? Painful side effects and dependency are common, and adverse drug reactions are America's fourth leading cause of death. In Mind over Meds, bestselling author Dr. Andrew Weil alerts readers to the problem of overmedication, and outlines when medicine is necessary, and when it is not. Dr. Weil examines how we came to be so drastically overmedicated, presents science that proves drugs aren't always the best option, and provides reliable integrative medicine approaches to treating common ailments like high blood pressure, allergies, depression, and even the common cold. With case histories, healthy alternative treatments, and input from other leading physicians, Mind over Meds is the go-to resource for anyone who is sick and tired of being sick and tired.

Unlock your potential and finally move forward. A recent study showed that when doctors tell heart patients they will die if they don't change their habits, only one in seven will be able to follow through successfully. Desire and motivation aren't enough: even when it's literally a matter of life or death, the ability to change remains maddeningly elusive. Given that the status quo is so potent, how can we change ourselves and our organizations? In Immunity to Change, authors Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey show how our individual beliefs--along with the collective mind-sets in our organizations--combine to create a natural but powerful immunity to change. By revealing how this mechanism holds us back, Kegan and Lahey give us the keys to unlock our potential and finally move forward. And by pinpointing and uprooting our own immunities to change, we can bring our organizations forward with us. This persuasive and practical book, filled with hands-on diagnostics and compelling case studies, delivers the tools you need to overcome the forces of inertia and transform your life and your work.

In the last thirty years, the big pharmaceutical companies have transformed themselves into marketing machines selling dangerous medicines as if they were Coca-Cola or Cadillacs. They pitch drugs with video games and soft cuddly toys for children; promote them in churches and subways, at NASCAR races and state fairs. They've become experts at promoting fear of disease, just so they can sell us hope. No question: drugs can save lives. But the relentless marketing that has enriched corporate executives and sent stock prices soaring has come with a dark side. Prescription pills taken as directed by physicians are estimated to kill one American every five minutes. And that figure doesn't reflect the damage done as the overmedicated take to the roads. Our Daily Meds connects the dots for the first time to show how corporate salesmanship has triumphed over science inside the biggest pharmaceutical companies and, in turn, how this promotion driven industry has taken over the practice of medicine and is changing American life. It is an ageless story of the battle between good and evil, with potentially life-changing consequences for everyone, not just the 65 percent of Americans who unscrew a prescription cap every day. An industry with the promise to help so many is now leaving a legacy of needless harm.

"In Are Your Meds making You Sick? author Robert S. Gold, RPh, MBA, a clinical hospital pharmacist and affiliate instructor of clinical pharmacy at Purdue University with over 27 years of experience, shows the reader how to think like a clinical hospital pharmacist. He lists his 16 Rules of Safe Medication Use that, if followed, can help prevent the common problems that medications can cause; gives specific examples and scenarios featuring the thirty-six drugs that are the most common offenders; and explains how even seemingly good drugs can harm a patient's kidney, liver, brain and heart if the patient's medical history and physical vulnerabilities are not taken into account"--