Philosopher and historian of science Dr. Justin Garson joins me to unpack The Madness Pill: One Doctor’s Quest to Understand Schizophrenia, the mid-century hunt for a pill that could temporarily induce schizophrenia so scientists could reverse-engineer a cure.
Garson opens with his father’s journey: diagnosed in 1973, treated for a time with talk therapy and no meds, then caught in the post-1980s biomedical turn of hospitals, antipsychotics, and side effects. The episode then centers Solomon Snyder, opiate receptor, dopamine receptor, grind-and-bind assays, and the arc from an LSD ego-death to amphetamine psychosis to the dopamine hypothesis that helped flip psychiatry toward chemical-imbalance models. Also: Hearing Voices Network, pathology vs purpose, and Garson’s Substack Reclaim Your Inner Life.
Dr. Justin Garson
Website: www.justingarson.com
X: x.com/justin_garson
Substack: www.reclaimyourinnerlife.com
Amazon (The Madness Pill): www.amazon.com/Madness-Pill-Doctors-Understand-Schizophrenia
In Vivo on X - https://x.com/InVivoPodOnX
In Vivo on Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/@InVivoPodcast
In Vivo on Apple Podcast - https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/in-vivo/id1775578563
In Vivo on Amazon Podcasts - https://music.amazon.ca/podcasts/1ac4dbec-df46-4d1f-b0a1-742e9656ef44/in-vivo
The opinions in this episode are those of the speakers. They do not represent the official views of any college, university, company, or other institution I may work for.
