28 Facts About Peter Breggin

Peter Roger Breggin was born on May 11,1936 and is an American psychiatrist and critic of shock treatment and psychiatric medication and COVID-19 response.

Peter Breggin graduated from George W Hewlett High School in 1954 and was inducted to their Hall of Fame in 2001.

Peter Breggin graduated from Harvard College in 1958 then attended Case Western Reserve Medical School.

Peter Breggin completed a first year of psychiatric residency at Harvard's Massachusetts Mental Health Center in Boston, where he was a teaching fellow at Harvard Medical School, and finished his final two years of psychiatric residency at SUNY.

Peter Breggin has taught at several universities, obtaining faculty appointments to the Washington School of Psychiatry, the Johns Hopkins University Department of Counseling, and the George Mason University Institute for Conflict Analysis and Resolution.

Peter Breggin recalls at the age of 18 witnessing electroconvulsive therapy being practiced then in the 'shock room' and finding it barbaric.

Peter Breggin practiced psychiatry in Washington, DC and Bethesda, Maryland for nearly thirty-five years.

Peter Breggin is a life member of the American Psychiatric Association and an editor for several scientific journals.

Peter Breggin's opinions have been portrayed both favorably and unfavorably in the media, including Time magazine and The New York Times.

Peter Breggin later ran The Center for the Study of Empathic Therapy, Education and Living, a 501 organization.

Peter Breggin wrote dozens of other articles, several book chapters, and more than twenty books.

Peter Breggin co-founded a journal with David Cohen and Steven Baldwin, Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, where he published many of his own papers.

Peter Breggin published one science fiction novel, After The Good War: A Love Story, in 1972.

Peter Breggin's work focused on the negative side effects of psychiatric medications, arguing that the harmful side effects typically outweigh any benefit.

Peter Breggin argues that psychosocial interventions are almost always superior in treating mental illness.

Peter Breggin has argued against psychoactive drugs, electroshock, psychosurgery, coercive involuntary treatment, and biological theories of psychiatry.

Peter Breggin argues that the mistreatment of children is a national tragedy, including psychiatric diagnoses and prescription of drugs for children whose needs were not otherwise met.

Peter Breggin has written two books specifically on the topic entitled, Talking Back to Ritalin and The Ritalin Factbook.

Together with Fred Baughman, Peter Breggin testified about ADHD to the United States Congress.

Peter Breggin has been very critical of psychologist Russell Barkley's work on ADHD, claiming that he exaggerates the benefits of stimulants and minimizes their hazards.

Peter Breggin elaborated on this theme in many subsequent books and articles about newer antidepressants.

In 1994, Peter Breggin said that Eli Lilly and Company attempted to discredit him and his book Talking Back to Prozac by falsely linking him to the Church of Scientology and labeling his views as "Neo-Scientology".

Peter Breggin has written several books and scientific articles critical of electroconvulsive therapy.

In South Carolina, Breggin testified on behalf of Peggy S Salters, a psychiatric nurse who sued her doctors and Palmetto Baptist Hospital in Columbia after ECT left her incapacitated in 2000.

In 2002, Peter Breggin was hired as an expert witness by a survivor of the Columbine High School massacre in a case against the makers of an anti-depressant drug.

Peter Breggin pointed out the iatrogenic effects of neuroleptic drugs.

Peter Breggin was defended by a diverse group of psychiatrists and others who defended his right to publicly state his critical opinion.

Peter Breggin was cleared of any wrongdoing by the Maryland medical board.