Blue Dreams

by Lauren Slater

  “It’s easy for any good neurosurgeon to do this now”: Ibid.

  Cosgrove described a patient: Slater, “Who Holds the Clicker?”

  First implantable cardiac pacemaker: Cooley, “In Memoriam: Tribute to Åke Senning,” 234–35.

  Epilogue: Where We’re Headed

  Drugs that dampen dopamine: Steeds, Carhart-Harris, and Stone, “Drug Models of Schizophrenia,” 43–58.

  No correlation between high dopamine: Whitaker, Anatomy of an Epidemic, 75.

  Some depressed people have a lot of serotonin: Ibid., 71.

  Penfield’s various demonstrations of brain specificity: Kumar and Yeragani, “Penfield,” 277. See also Penfield and Boldrey, “Somatic Motor and Sensory Representation in the Cerebral Cortex of Man as Studied by Electrical Stimulation,” 389, and Penfield and Gage, “Cerebral Localization of Epileptic Manifestations,” 709.

  Carlat questions why psychiatrists should go to medical school: Carlat, Unhinged, 63.

  Proponents of the monoamine hypothesis: Delgado, “Depression,” 7–11.

  “the amount of good, solid science”: Spiegel, “The Dictionary of Disorder.”

  Rosenhan’s experiment: Rosenhan, “On Being Sane in Insane Places,” 250–58.

  “If melancholia wasn’t the Holy Grail”: Greenberg, “Does Psychiatry Need Science?”

  DSM-V rejects the use of the DST: Ibid.

  “the main obstacle was exactly”: Ibid.

  No novel drugs have come through the pipeline: Friedman, “A Dry Pipeline for Psychiatric Drugs.”

  That pill turned out, despite the huge hype: Hockenbury and Hockenbury, Discovering Psychology, 612.

  Many autistic patients have experienced: Danforth et al., “MDMA-Assisted Therapy,” 237–49.

  Danforth would also like to see MDMA utilized: Danforth, “Findings from a Collective Case Study.”

  Some theorize that the drug is neurotrophic: Ibla et al., “Prolonged Exposure to Ketamine,” 11.

  One study shows that: Diazgranados et al., “Rapid Resolution of Suicidal Ideation,” 1605–11.

  300 million people worldwide suffer from depression: World Health Organization,“Depression”; Martin, “Working through Depression.”

  Ayahuasca and psilocybin both have proven to be very effective: Thomas et al., “Ayahuasca-Assisted Therapy for Addiction,” 6. See also Nelson, “Hallucinogen in ‘Magic Mushrooms’ Helps Longtime Smokers Quit.”

  Selected Bibliography

  Adam, David. “Truth about Ecstasy’s Unlikely Trip from Lab to Dance Floor.” The Guardian, 2006. Web.

  Agar, Jon. Science in the 20th Century and Beyond. Malden, Mass.: Polity Press, 2012.

  Alemanno, Fernando, and Auricchio, Ferdinando. “Sedation in Regional Anesthesia,” in Anesthesia of the Upper Limb: A State of the Art Guide, eds. Fernando Alemanno, Mario Bosco, and Aldo Barbati. New York: Springer, 2014.

  Alexander, Bruce. The Globalization of Addiction. New York: Oxford University Press, 2010.

  ———. Peaceful Measures: Canada’s Way Out of the “War on Drugs.” Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1990.

  Alonso, Alvaro, et al. “Use of Antidepressants and the Risk of Parkinson’s Disease: A Prospective Study.” Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery, and Psychiatry 80, no. 6 (2009): 671–74.

  American Psychiatric Association. Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. 5th ed. (DSM-V). Arlington, Va.: American Psychiatric Association Press, 2013.

  Ames, Mark. Going Postal: Rage, Murder, and Rebellion from Reagan’s Workplaces to Clinton’s Columbine and Beyond. New York: Soft Skull Press, 2005.

  Andrews, Evan. “What Was the Dancing Plague of 1518?” History.com, September 14, 2015. Web.

  Angell, Marcia. The Truth about the Drug Companies: How They Deceive Us and What to Do about It. New York: Random House, 2004.

  Asch, S. S. “Depression and Demonic Possession: The Analyst as an Exorcist.” Hillside Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 7, no. 2 (1985): 149.

  Associated Press. “U.S. will Ban ‘Ecstasy,’ a Hallucinogenic Drug.” New York Times, June 1, 1985.

  Atamna, H., and Kumar, R. “Protective Role of Methylene Blue in Alzheimer’s Disease via Mitochondria and Cytochrome C Oxidase.” Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease 20, no. 2 (2010): 439–52.

  Austin, Paul. A Quick Guide to Microdosing Psychedelics: Everything You Want to Know about This Cutting-Edge Method of Psychedelic Use. Seattle: Amazon Digital Services, 2016.

  Ayd, Frank. Discoveries in Biological Psychiatry. Ayd Medical Communications, 1984.

  Azmitia, Efrain C. “Serotonin and Brain: Evolution, Neuroplasticity, and Homeostasis.” International Review of Neurobiology 77 (2006): 31–56.

  Baggott, Matthew J., et al. “Intimate Insight: MDMA Changes How People Talk about Significant Others.” Journal of Psychopharmacology 29 (April 2015): 669–77.

  Bateson, Gregory, Don D. Jackson, Jay Haley, and John Weakland. “Toward a Theory of Schizophrenia.” Systems Research and Behavioral Science 1, no. 4 (1956): 251–64.

  Baumeister, A. A., M. F. Hawkins, and S. M. Uzelac. “The Myth of Reserpine-Induced Depression: Role in the Historical Development of the Monoamine Hypothesis.” Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 12, no. 2 (2003): 207–20.

  Baumeister, Alan. “The Tulane Electrical Brain Stimulation Program: A Historical Case Study in Medical Ethics.” Journal of the History of the Neurosciences 9, no. 3 (2000): 262–78.

  Beck, Jerome, and Marsha Rosenbaum. Pursuit of Ecstasy: The MDMA Experience. Albany, N.Y.: SUNY Press, 1994.

  Belic, Roko, dir. Happy. Wadi Rum Productions, 2011.

  Benabid, A. L., et al. “Combined (Thalamotomy and Stimulation) Stereotactic Surgery of the VIM Thalamic Nucleus for Bilateral Parkinson Disease.” Applied Neurophysiology 50, nos. 1–6 (1987): 344–46.

  Benedictus, Leo. “End of the Affair.” The Guardian, 2004. Web.

  Bergland, Christopher. “Cortisol: Why ‘the Stress Hormone’ Is Public Enemy No. 1.” The Athlete’s Way (blog), Psychology Today, January 22, 2013. Web.

  Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “Knowingly Taking Placebo Pills Eases Pain, Study Finds.” ScienceDaily, October 14, 2016. Web.

  Blackwell, Barry. “Adumbration: A History Lesson.” International Network for the History of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2014. Web.

  ———. Bits and Pieces of a Psychiatrist’s Life. Bloomington, Ind.: Xlibris, 2012.

  Boodman, Sandra G. “Running Out of Wonder Drugs.” Washington Post, March 16, 1993.

  Boulton, Alan A., Glen B. Baker, William G. Dewhurst, and Merton Sandler, eds. Neurobiology of the Trace Amines: Analytical, Physiological, Pharmacological, Behavioral, and Clinical Aspects. New York: Springer Science and Business Media, 2013.

  Breed, Michael D., and Janice Moore. Animal Behavior. Cambridge, Mass.: Academic Press, 2015.

  Breggin, Peter, and Ginger Ross Breggin. Talking Back to Prozac: What Doctors Won’t Tell You about Prozac and the Newer Antidepressants. New York: Open Road Media, 2014 (paperback and e-book).

  Brisch, Ralf. “The Role of Dopamine in Schizophrenia from a Neurobiological and Evolutionary Perspective: Old Fashioned, but Still in Vogue.” Front Psychiatry 5 (2014): 47.

  Broadhurst, Alan D. “The Discovery of Imipramine from a Personal Viewpoint.” In The Rise of Psychopharmacology and the Story of CINP, edited by T. A. Ban, D. Healy, and E. Shorter, 69–73. Budapest: Animula Press, 1998.

  Brown, David Jay, and Louise Reitman. “An Interview with Roland Griffiths, Ph.D.” MAPS Bulletin 20, no. 1, 22–25.

  Brunet, A., et al. “Effect of Post-Retrieval Propranolol on Psychophysiologic Responding during Subsequent Script-Driven Traumatic Imagery in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder.” Journal of Psychiatric Research 42, no. 6 (2008): 503–6.

  Brunet, Alain, Ph.D., Joaqin Poundja, B.Sc., Jacques Tremblay, M.D., Éric Bui, M.D., Émilie Thomas, B.Sc., Scott P. Orr, Ph.D., Abdelmadjid Azzoug, B.Sc., Philippe Birmes, M.D., Ph.D., and Roger K. Pitman,
M.D. “Trauma Reactivation under the Influence of Propranolol Decreases Posttraumatic Stress Symptoms and Disorder: 3 Open-Label Trials.” Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology 31, no. 4 (2011): 547–50.

  Buchanan, Tony W. “Retrieval of Emotional Memories.” Psychological Bulletin 133, no. 5 (2007): 761–79.

  Buchman, Nili, and Rael D. Strous. “Side Effects of Long-Term Treatment with Fluoxetine.” Clinical Neuropharmacology 25, no. 1 (January 2002): 55–57.

  Buckman, Robert, and Sabbagh, Karl. Magic or Medicine? An Investigation of Healing and Healers. Toronto: Key Porter, 1993.

  Cade, Jack F. “John Frederick Joseph Cade: Family Memories on the Occasion of the 50th Anniversary of His Discovery of the Use of Lithium in Mania.” Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry 33, no. 5 (1999): 615–16.

  Cade, John F. “Lithium Salts in the Treatment of Psychotic Excitement.” Bulletin of the World Health Organization 78, no. 4 (2000): 518–20.

  Callaway, Ewen. “Long-Term Memory Gets Wiped.” Nature, August 16, 2007. Web.

  Cannon, Walter Bradford. “‘VOODOO’ Death.” American Journal of Public Health 92, no. 10 (October 2002): 1593–96.

  Carlat, Daniel. Unhinged: The Trouble with Psychiatry—A Doctor’s Revelations about a Profession in Crisis. New York: Free Press, 2010.

  Chavkin, Samuel. The Mind Readers: Psychosurgery and Mind Control. Boston, Mass: Houghton Mifflin, 1978.

  Choi, D. S., et al. “Sudden Amnesia Resulting in Pain Relief: The Relationship between Memory and Pain.” Pain 132, nos. 1–2 (November 2007): 206–10.

  Cooley, Denton A., M.D. “In Memoriam: Tribute to Åke Senning, Pioneering Cardiovascular Surgeon.” Texas Heart Institute Journal 27, no. 3 (2000): 234–35.

  Cormier, Zoe. “Magic-Mushroom Drug Lifts Depression in First Human Trial.” Nature, May 17, 2016. Web.

  Cosgrove, G. Rees, M.D. “Session 6: Neuroscience, Brain, and Behavior V: Deep Brain Stimulation.” President’s Council on Bioethics, June 25, 2004. Transcript.

  Danforth, Alicia. “Findings from a Collective Case Study on the MDMA/Ecstacy Experiences of Adults on the Autism Spectrum.” Lecture. Psychedelic Science 2013, Institute of Transpersonal Psychology, Oakland, Calif., April 20, 2013.

  Danforth, Alicia, et al. “MDMA-Assisted Therapy: A New Treatment Model for Social Anxiety in Autistic Adults.” Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry 64, January 4, 2016: 242.

  Davidson, L. M. Willow Weep for Me. New York: W. W. Norton, 1988.

  DeGrandpre, Richard. The Cult of Pharmacology: How America Became the World’s Most Troubled Drug Culture. Durham, N.C.: Duke University Press, 2006.

  Delgado, P. L. “Depression: The Case for a Monoamine Deficiency.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 61, no. 6 (2000): 7–11.

  De Moore, Greg, and Westmore, Ann. Finding Sanity: John Cade, Lithium, and the Taming of Bipolar Disorder. Melbourne: Allen & Unwin, 2017.

  DePoy, Elizabeth, and Stephen French Gilson. Human Behavior Theory and Applications: A Critical Thinking Approach. New York: Sage Publications, 2012.

  De Young, Mary. Madness: An American History of Mental Illness and Its Treatment. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Company, 1949.

  Diazgranados, Nancy, M.D., M.S., et al. “Rapid Resolution of Suicidal Ideation after a Single Infusion of an NMDA Antagonist in Patients with Treatment-Resistant Major Depressive Disorder.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 71, no. 12 (2010): 1605–11.

  Doblin, Rick. “Pahnke’s ‘Good Friday Experiment’: A Long-Term Follow-Up and Methodological Critique.” Journal of Transpersonal Psychology 23, no. 1 (1991): 1–25.

  Dumont, G. J., F. C. Sweep, R. van der Steen, R. Hermsen, A. R. Donders, D. J. Touw, J. M. van Gerven, J. K. Buitelaar, and R. J. I. Verkes. “Increased Oxytocin Concentrations and Prosocial Feelings in Humans after Ecstasy (3,4-Methylenedioxymethamphetamine) Administration.” Journal of Behavioral Neuroscience 109, no. 4 (1995): 782–89.

  Egan, Danielle. “Adverse Effects: The Perils of Deep Brain Stimulation for Depression.” Mad in America: Science, Psychiatry and Social Justice, September 24, 2015. Web.

  Ehrenberg, Alain. Weariness of the Self: Diagnosing the History of Depression in the Contemporary Age. Montreal: McGill–Queen’s University Press, 2010.

  Eisner, Bruce. Ecstasy: The MDMA Story. Berkeley, Calif.: Ronin Publishing, 1989, 1994.

  El-Hai, Jack. The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness. New York: Wiley, 2005, 2007.

  Endler, Norman S. “The Origins of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT).” Convulsive Therapy 4, no. 1 (1988): 5–23.

  Enghag, Per. Encyclopedia of the Elements: Technical Data–History–Processing–Applications. New York: Wiley, 2004.

  Estrada, E. “Clinical Uses of Chlorpromazine in Veterinary Medicine.” Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association 128, no. 6 (1956): 292–94.

  Evans, Dylan. Placebo, Mind over Matter in Modern Medicine. New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.

  Fadiman, James. The Psychedelic Explorer’s Guide: Safe, Therapeutic, and Sacred Journeys. New York: Park Street Press, 2011.

  “Fascists in White Coats: The CIA’s Dr. Louis Jolyon West and the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute.” Constantine Report, n.d. Web.

  Feng, Xiaoli, et al. “Maternal Separation Produces Lasting Changes in Cortisol and Behavior in Rhesus Monkeys.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 108, no. 34 (2011): 14312–17.

  Ferguson, James M. “SSRI Antidepressant Medications: Adverse Effects and Tolerability.” Journal of Clinical Psychiatry 3, no. 1 (February 2001): 22.

  Fink, B., N. Neave, J. T. Manning, and K. Grammer. “Facial Symmetry and Judgments of Attractiveness, Health and Personality.” Personality and Individual Differences 41 (2006): 491–99.

  Fisher, Carl Erik. “Psychiatrists Embrace Deep-Brain Stimulation: Brain-Stimulation Procedures for Psychiatric Disorders Are on the Rise. Should We Be Concerned?” Scientific American, January 1, 2014. Web.

  Fisher, H. E., and J. A. Thomson. “Lust, Romance, Attachment: Do the Sexual Side Effects of Serotonin-Enhancing Antidepressants Jeopardize Romantic Love, Marriage, and Fertility?” In Evolutionary Cognitive Neuroscience, edited by S. Platek, J. Keenan, and T. Shackelford, 245–83. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 2006.

  Fisher, Helen. Anatomy of Love: A Natural History of Mating, Marriage, and Why We Stray. New York: Ballantine, 1994.

  Fisher, Helen, and Andrew J. Thompson Jr. “Prozac and Sexual Desire.” New York Review of Books, March 20, 2008.

  Freudenheim, Milt. “The Drug Makers Are Listening to Prozac.” New York Times, January 1994. Web.

  Freudenmann, Roland W., Florian Öxler, and Sabine Bernschneider-Reif. “The Origin of MDMA (Ecstasy) Revisited: The True Story Reconstructed from the Original Documents.” Addiction 101, no. 9 (2006): 1241–45.

  Friedman, Richard A. “A Call for Caution in the Use of Antipsychotic Drugs.” New York Times, September 24, 2012.

  ———. “A Dry Pipeline for Psychiatric Drugs.” New York Times, August 19, 2013.

  ———, M.D. “To Treat Depression, Drugs or Therapy?” New York Times, January 8, 2015.

  Frodl, T., M.D., et al. “Depression Related Variation in Brain Morphology over 3 Years.” Archives of General Psychiatry 65, no. 10 (2008): 1156–65.

  Fukada, Christine, M.Sc., Jillian Clare Kohler, Ph.D., Heather Boon, Ph.D., Zubin Austin, Ph.D., and Murray Krahn, M.D., M.Sc., FRCPC. “Prescribing Gabapentin Off Label: Perspectives from Psychiatry, Pain and Neurology Specialists.” Canadian Pharmacists Journal 145, no. 6 (November 2012): 280–84, E1.

  Gardner, John. “A History of Deep Brain Stimulation: Technological Innovation and the Role of Clinical Assessment Tools.” Social Studies of Science 43, no. 5 (October 2013): 707.

  Geddes, J. R. “Schizophrenia and Complications of Pregnancy and Labor: An Individual Patient Data Meta-Analysis.” Schizophrenia Bulletin 25, no. 3 (1999)
: 413–23.

  Gershon, Samuel. Lithium: Its Role in Psychiatric Research and Treatment. New York: Springer, 1973.

  Glenmullen, Joseph. Prozac Backlash: Overcoming the Dangers of Prozac, Zoloft, Paxil, and Other Antidepressants with Safe, Effective Alternatives. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2001.

  Goleman, Daniel. “Pattern of Death: Copycat Suicides among Youths.” New York Times, March 18, 1987.

  ———. “2 Drugs Get a New Use: Soothing Mania.” New York Times, July 13, 1994.

  Gould, Madelyn, Patrick Jamieson, and Daniel Romer. “Media Contagion and Suicide among the Young.” American Behavioral Scientist 46, no. 9 (2016): 1269–84.

  Govan, Fiona. “Lobotomy: A History of the Controversial Procedure.” Telegraph, August 2011. Web.

  Greenberg, Ben, Loes Gabriels, D. A. Malone Jr., and Bart Nuttin. “Deep Brain Stimulation of the Ventral Internal Capsule/Ventral Striatum for Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder: Worldwide Experience.” Molecular Psychiatry 15, no. 71 (2010): 64–79.

  Greenberg, Gary. The Book of Woe: The DSM and the Unmaking of Psychiatry. New York: Blue Rider Press, 2013.

  ———. “Does Psychiatry Need Science?” The New Yorker, April 23, 2013.

  ———. “Is It Prozac? Or Placebo?” Mother Jones, November–December 2003.

  Griffiths, Roland, et al. “Pilot Study of the 5-HT2AR Agonist Psilocybin in the Treatment of Tobacco Addiction.” Journal of Psychopharmacology 28, no. 11 (2014): 982–92.

  ———. “Psilocybin Can Occasion Mystical-Type Experiences Having Substantial and Sustained Personal Meaning and Spiritual Significance.” Psychopharmacology 187, no. 3 (2006): 268, 284–92.

  Grob, Charles S. “Commentary on Harbor-UCLA Psilocybin Study.” MAPS Bulletin 20, no. 1 (2010): 28–29.

  Grof, Stanislav. Realms of the Human Unconscious: Observations from LSD Research. London: Souvenir Press, 1996.

  ———. The Ultimate Journey: Consciousness and the Mystery of Death. Ben Lomand, Calif.: MAPS, 2006.

  Grof, Stanislav, and Joan Halifax. The Human Encounter with Death. New York: Dutton, 1977.

  Grof, Stanislav, and Albert Hofmann. LSD Psychotherapy: The Healing Potential of Psychedelic Medicine. Ben Lomand, Calif.: MAPS, 2008.