The Pied Piper of Prozac
NOTE -- AP Yakima Correspondent Aviva Brandt interviewed psychologist Jim Goodwin in a restaurant on 2/12/94. Following is her account of his on-the-spot recommendation that she take Prozac.

WENATCHEE, Wash. (AP) -- Psychologist Jim Goodwin has been called the Pied Piper of Prozac, accused of urging the antidepressant drug too forcefully on patients and without adequate evaluation of their condition.

It took him 15 min to suggest I try Prozac to relieve what he called a “mild form of depression. It’s a genetic problem; most Jews have it”, said Goodwin, who also is Jewish. “if you’re interested, I’d be happy to see you for therapy.”

Goodwin has found himself the focus of a nationwide stir, highlighted in television and print news magazines, over whether Prozac is being prescribed properly. He estimates he has treated almost 700 people in this central Washington city of 21,000 -- and every one of them takes Prozac or another antidepressant. He himself has taken Prozac since 1989.

In June, he faces a hearing before the Washington Licensing Board of Psychology on charges he pressured patients to take Prozac, urged use of Prozac without adequate diagnosis and breached patient confidentiality. The board could revoke Goodwin’s license.

In his defense, Goodwin said, “It wasn’t that I required (Prozac), but I was rather aggressive with people that they go to their family physician” for a prescription.

“Psychotherapy takes years,” he said. “With this medicine, I’ve actually got it down to about 13 sessions.”

I interviewed Goodwin at a Wenatchee restaurant about the charges, which he says are unfounded. Within 15 min, Goodwin told me I suffered from mild depression. I was taken aback and told him so.

After getting a promotion and starting a new job in a new part of the country, I was feeling pretty good about life. But Goodwin said people with mild depression often don’t recognize the symptoms until they get treatment.

Dr. Ronald Fieve, president of the Foundation for Depression and Manic Depression in NYC and professor of clinical psychiatry at Columbia University, said Prozac is not approved to treat mild depression. “The only two diagnoses the FDA has approved Prozac for are major depressive disorder and OCD”, Fieve said.

Fieve, whose book “Prozac” will be published next month by Avon Books, said he spends at least 45 min with a patient, then orders a battery of tests, including an EKG and blood work, before making a diagnosis. Fieve would not discuss Goodwin specifically.

As I was trying to close the interview with Goodwin after 90 min, he said most people could benefit from Prozac, then focused again on me.

“Get yourself a good cognitive therapist and a good physician who knows about these new medicines, and you’d be surprised how your life could change,” he said. “All of us could probably use a little bit of help with our depressions. Hint, hint.”

I was trying to finish an interview without antagonizing the subject. “Everybody could probably use some good therapy,” I conceded.

“Therapy doesn’t preclude the use of a nice SSRI, too,” he responded, referring to a class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors.

“It won’t hurt you,” he added.

Then he quizzed me about my career aspirations. When I mentioned I had once dreamed of magazine writing but never made the right kind of contacts, he said: “You might be surprised at the connections you’d make if you felt a little more sure of yourself and had a little more energy and were a little bit more assertive about yourself. Maybe there’s a reason why you aren’t.

“The thing is genetic, Aviva, it’s genetic. Our Yiddish families, they seem to have it more so than anybody else. We’re a bunch of fruitcakes. We are. Face it. Face your genetics.”