Posted by vwoolf on December 1, 2004, at 2:59:45
In reply to Re: MIND guide to Electroconvulsive therapy, posted by ed_uk on November 30, 2004, at 8:42:31
Hi Ed, thanks for the stimulating discussions you generate.
I have to admit that my response to articles about ECT is always emotional, so I am perhaps not a good person to judge the MIND site. On first reading it last night, it seemed to be a balanced article that was trying to present both sides of the argument without bias. In fact, I was vaguely under the impression that it was in favour of ECT. Rereading it in the light of day, I can see that it is in fact very cautious about promoting ECT - it actually seems to emphasise the idea that ECT causes brain damage, and is a rough, little understood, dangerous way of treating psychiatric distress. Or am I still not reading it right? Help!!!
I wish they would put the very clear warning that information needs to be full and exhaustive in bold characters - psychiatric patients (like me) find it difficult to take in information under emotionally charged circumstances, and I actually didn’t even notice these lines when I first read the article. The same applies to the fact that consent should not be given at once, but the patient should go away with written information about the procedure and be given time to think over the decision. Very often, as in my case, psychiatrists are eager to push their solution through without respecting all the protocol, and decisions are made far too lightly. The article is clearly and simply written for the layman.
The comment by the psychologist, Simon Green, that it is comparable to trying to fix a television set with a sledgehammer rings very true for me. It does cause brain damage, and I believe that a part of my life has been taken from me by the use of ECT, both in memories lost, and in my inability to remember things today. Before the ECT I had a very clear photographic memory. Today I battle to recognize people I have met many times, and can watch the same movie over and over as if I had never seen it before. The damage seems to be related only to visual memory fortunately, so it has not interfered with my studies or professional development to any great degree, but it is hampering nonetheless.
I notice that you have put the articles on ECT and Psychosurgery together. I agree that they have a great deal in common as being little understood, invasive, brutal methods of trying to make uncomfortable problems go away, regardless of the outcome for the person involved. I believe that ECT is still very common in the US. I have come across websites which make it possible to identify doctors who use this procedure as their first, and often only, method of treatment. Dr Shock himself is alive and well, and living somewhere in North America - was it in Philadelphia?
Warm regards.
poster:vwoolf
thread:422242
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20041128/msgs/422677.html