I have had so many friends and family members who have been on psychotropic drugs over the years. Some have helped, others have made things worse. So awful. They are helpful sometimes, but others times they were disastrous. I guess it takes time to find the correct drug, the correct dosage for every individual. This book offered much insight into that world. I pray none of us ever need them and that those who do find swift recovery or cure. Or at least a drug that works for them.
I received a Kindle ARC from Netgalley in exchange for a fair review.

The topic was fascinating, and for the most part the book held my interest. The language of pharmacology slowed me down or tripped me up sometimes, but as a lay person I felt like I was able to keep up well enough!

Blue Dreams: The Science and the Story of the Drugs that Changed Our Minds
by Clinical Psychologist and best selling author of Prozac Diary, Dr. Lauren Slater, is a fascinating history of psychopharmacology told with scientific rigour along with the empathic recounting of the author’s own experiences. I enjoyed the chapters on antidepressants and on placebos but the chapters that really blew me away were the ones on psychedelics. Reading these chapters on MDMA and Psilocybins made me cautiously optimistic that a breakthrough for treating mental illness may be in our not too distant future. At times, the book got a little long winded, but overall I recommend this important book for anyone wanting a better understanding of treating mental illness.
With gratitude to Dr. Slater for this important book and bringing empathy to a subject that is still too often stigmatized. Thank you to NetGalley and Little, Brown and Company for the ebook Advanced Readers Copy.

This was not quite the read I was expecting. I unfortunately did not finish this book.