Beyond Prozac : Healing Mental Distress

by Terry Lynch (Contributor)

Lovelessness and loneliness cannot be explained by chemical changes in the brain and cured by the ingestion of drugs. Lovelessness and loneliness, like anxiety and depression and all the ways of expressing distress which are called mental disorder, are part of what it is to be human, but part that can be understood.

Genres: Psychology, Nonfiction

Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Terry Lynch is a mental health author, mental health activist, physician and psychotherapist. He lives in Ireland, is married to Marianne and has 3 children, one hilarious dog (Diego) and one real scaredy-cat (Holly).
Born in New York in 1957, at the age of 4 he and his four siblings came from America to Ireland where they lived with their grandmother, a marvellous woman, Elizabeth (“Tessie”) Daly. His parents remained in New York, visiting their children once a year for about two weeks. His mother and father therefore felt more like a visiting aunt and uncle than parents, which felt quite strange.
His childhood was reasonably happy. However he missed his parents greatly, a situation that affected him considerably. In his teens he experienced much anxiety and unhappiness. His experiences have helped him understand people’s heartache and distress. They created a determination within him to do everything he can to progress how emotional and psychological distress including psychiatric diagnoses are understood and responded to internationally.
Terry Lynch qualified as a medical doctor in 1982. He trained to become a general practitioner (family physician), and worked in this capacity until 1999. Having become increasingly concerned about the lack of consideration of the mind and emotions in health in general but especially in mental health, he re-trained as a psychotherapist. Since 2000 he has provided a recovery-oriented mental health service in Limerick, Ireland, attended by people from all over Ireland and beyond. The majority of the people who attend him have a psychiatric diagnosis such as depression, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), eating disorders and borderline personality disorder. Many of the people attending him feel suicidal.
Terry Lynch has been described by psychiatrists Professor Ivor Browne as “enlightened” and Pat Bracken as “a true scientist”. Between 2003 and 2012, he served on several Irish Department of Health-appointed national mental health groups. He was a member of the Expert Group on mental Health Policy (2003-6), which formulated A Vision for Change (2006), Ireland’s official mental health policy document. He was subsequently appointed to the group charged by the Irish government to oversee the implementation of this policy, the Implementation Group for A Vision for Change (2006-9).
He was re-appointed to the Second Implementation Group for a Vision for Change (2009-12). He is the only health professional to have served on all three of these national groups. He was also appointed to the Irish Health Service Executive’s Expert Advisory Group (2006-8), appointed by Professor Brendan Drumm. Terry Lynch resigned from this group in 2008, because the group was making no real progress. This group was officially disbanded later in 2008.
His latest (third) book is Depression Delusion Volume One: The Myth of the Brain Chemical Imbalance, publication date 02nd September 2015. He is also the author of Selfhood: A Key to the recovery of Emotional Wellbeing, Mental health and the Prevention of Mental health Problems and Beyond Prozac: Healing Mental Distress, a best-seller in Ireland in 2001, shortlisted for the 2002 MIND (UK) Book of the Year Award.
Many more books in the pipeline. Expect twelve-fifteen more books on emotional and mental health (including each of the main psychiatric diagnostic categories and suicide) from Terry over the next ten years. Subscribe to his updates and receive free chapters at http://www.doctorterrylynch.com, email info@doctorterrylynch.com. Subscribe to updates at http://www.doctorterrylynch.com.
Terry Lynch been an invited speaker at many mental health meetings including the Samaritans (Ireland) Annual Conference (2015, keynote speaker); Mental Health and Happiness Summit (international, 2014, William Glasser Institute) Listowel Writers Week (2012), Athlone Literary Festival (2013), Critical Perspectives in Mental Health Annual Con

Reviews

[Ade Bailey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent read for a layperson, one interested in their own mental health or in the onslaught of pharmaceuticul biopsychiatry which is so often taken as gospel, even celebrated. The question of human emotionally suffering is most certainly too broada nd important an area to be left to one-tracked drug merchants. Lynch, a doctor himself, does not preclude medication, and realises its importance in some cases, but he is rightly dismayed at the use of medication to address deeply human problems. Of the many books I have read on this topic, Lynch's is the one that is best suited to a broad audience.

[Carly · Rating 3 out of 5]

There reached a point where it just became repetitive; [so-called illness] can't be proven, therefore we don't know what effect [insert name of drug] is having.

I don't dispute that the rhetoric is valuable, but I grasped the point. Each chapter was essentially synonymous with its predecessor.

[Marian casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read

[Savannah Levell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great insight.