Artificial Happiness: The Dark Side of the New Happy Class - Couverture souple

Dr. Ronald Dworkin, senior fellow at the Hudson Institute, reveals the dark side of the staggering rise in antidepressant prescriptions, alternative medicine, and joy-through-exercise regimens, a revolution that has produced a new happy class changing the face of America as we know it. The politics of healthcare and medical ethics, combined with momentous changes in popular culture, have altered the relationship between doctor and patient, sown discord within the medical profession, and pitted doctors against religion, all in the march to create what Dworkin dubs the "artificial happiness" panacea. He spotlights four trends that have revolutionized the practice of medicine: the growing use of psychotropic drugs; alternative medicine, with its belief in the often deceiving curative power of nature; the attainment of the elusive "endorphin high" through exercise; and the disconnect between religion and spirituality, nurtured by doctors who promote well-being through non-standard religious activities. He fits these together in a story that places Americans at the center of a novel social experiment: helping people feel happy independent of the facts in their lives. This provocative book of social commentary shows how artificial happiness may be a prescription worth discarding.

Dr. Ronald W. Dworkin received his B.A. from Swarthmore College in 1981, his M.D. from the University of California at San Diego in 1985, and his Ph.D. in political philosophy from The Johns Hopkins University in 1995. His essays on religion, medical science, and healthcare have appeared in The Weekly Standard,Commentary,Public Interest, and Policy Review. In 2000, Dr. Dworkin joined the Hudson Institute as a Senior Fellow while continuing to work part-time as an anesthesiologist. He lives in Baltimore, MD