Commonsense Rebellion: Taking Back Your Life from Drugs, Shrinks, Corporations, and a World Gone Crazy [Hardcover]

In this jeremiad about the mental health industry, society more than psychiatry takes the brunt of Levine's criticism. He cites psychiatric critics Thomas Szasz and Peter Breggin in support of his opposition to overdiagnosis, medication, and excessive psychiatric influence. Yet a large proportion of the mental health establishment would agree with his indictment of TV, guns, alcohol and tobacco, gambling, overeating, advertising, mass education, managed care, Viagra, prisons, and employment trends. Well read, thoughtful, and idealistic, Levine wants to humanize science and technology, not abolish them. But he goes overboard at times, exaggerating the evils of psychiatry, itself a divided profession (see J. Allan Hobson's Out of Its Mind, LJ 6/15/01). He thus blights his own argument, as when he argues that "the behavior modifiers have today taken over culture as totally as the Nazis had once taken over Europe." The book merits attention despite these faults and belongs in most libraries in a category bridging social criticism and self-help. E. James Lieberman, George Washington Univ. Sch. of Medicine, Washington, DC
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

"Here is one psychologist who knows the reason America is sick: the institutions and technologies we have created that make modern life meaningless, disjointed, dispiriting, depressing, and joyless. His most unlikely prescription is to recognize the widespread disaffection from them as a rebellion, not a disease, and to encourage a more sensible one. What the hell, it just might work." -- Kirkpatrick Sale

"It is always refreshing to find someone who stands at the edge of his profession and dissects its failures with a critical eye, refusing to be deceived by its pretensions. Bruce Levine condemns the cold, technological approach to mental health and, to our benefit, looks for deeper solutions."--Howard Zinn, author of A People’s History of the United States

"This is an energizing book, a must read for the general public and professionals. We now have a multi-billion-dollar psycho-pharmaceutical complex pushing unscientific theories, dangerous drugs, and other coercions. Dr. Levine unravels the truth of industrial psychiatry’s connection with other dehumanizing institutions. His straightforward alternatives are rejuvenating."--Peter R. Breggin, M.D., author of Toxic Psychiatry and Your Drug May Be Your Problem

"Well read, thoughtful, and idealistic, Levine wants to humanize science and technology…The book merits attention…and belongs in most libraries in a category bridging social criticism and self-help."
"An entertaining, hard-hitting, and controversial book about contemporary culture…Full of astonishing statistics, the volume covers a wide range of topics: attention deficit disorder, chemical dependency, depression, education, health care, consumerism, the online environment, and more….Providing fascinating material for debate, Levine takes on pharmaceutical companies, the DSM-IV, and other 'institutions.' The emphasis on personal honesty and responsibility makes for a refreshing read that is at times humorous and at times disturbing….Aptly titled, this book is an opinionated wake-up call." --Choice, January 2002

"Refreshing and energizing....of value in reminding us of the need for a spirited sense of change...[and in scrutinizing the role of psychotropic medication and the pharmaceutical industry."