The Prozac boom and its placebogenic counterpart -- a culturally fashioned phenomenon

The placebo effect describes the mind-body process of altering the body's physiological state as well as the brain's neurological state. Catalyzed by the mind's believing in a certain drug, ritual, and/or treatment, it generally refers to the phenomenon of an ill individual recovering to health. Subsequent to the Prozac boom (fluoxetine), which occurred during the 1980s and 90s in the United States, a new form of placebogenic phenomena was defined: 'cosmetic psychopharmacology', whereby the healthy individual is transformed to fit better in his/her cultural medium (defined by one's values and beliefs). In order to discover how cultural metaphors (e.g. media-generated symbolism, social ideals) influence psychopharmacological treatment, this report investigates the following questions: Is the Prozac Boom culturally fashioned? Is cosmetic psychopharmacology culturally fashioned? Are cosmetic psychopharmacology and its ability to better the individual (relative to American ideals) a placebogenic phenomenon?

The data and speculation for the present report was obtained via a cultural and critical review.

It would appear that (1) the Prozac Boom and subsequently its by product, cosmetic psychopharmacology, are culturally fashioned; (2) cosmetic psychopharmacology is considered to result from one's belief in a drug and thus is placebo-influenced.

Media-generated symbolism, which represents and reciprocally fashions the ideals and values of that society, influence the social perceptions of a drug's effectiveness and the quality of a particular treatment. In the clinical setting, the influential role of these preconceived notions about a certain treatment and/or drug need to be further considered and studied.