A recent review of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT, or shock treatment) has concluded that ECT is so harmful, with so little or no benefit, that its use cannot be scientifically justified.
This paper, “The effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy: A literature review,” by Professors John Read and Richard Bentall, appeared in the April 19, 2010 issue of Epidemiologia e Psichiatria Sociale.
Quoting from the paper’s Summary: “These placebo controlled studies show minimal support for effectiveness with either depression or ‘schizophrenia’ during the course of treatment (i.e. only for some patients, on some measures, sometimes perceived only by psychiatrists but not by other raters), and no evidence, for either diagnostic group, of any benefits beyond the treatment period. There are no placebo-controlled studies evaluating the hypothesis that ECT prevents suicide, and no robust evidence from other kinds of studies to support the hypothesis. Conclusions – Given the strong evidence (summarised here) of persistent and, for some, permanent brain dysfunction, primarily evidenced in the form of retrograde [loss of memory for past events] and anterograde [inability to retain new information] amnesia, and the evidence of a slight but significant increased risk of death, the cost-benefit analysis for ECT is so poor that its use cannot be scientifically justified.”
There are “significant new findings confirming that the brain damage, in the form of memory dysfunction, is common, persistent and significant, and that it is related to ECT rather than to depression.”
The authors go on to say, “The continued use of ECT therefore represents a failure to introduce the ideals of evidence-based medicine into psychiatry. This failure has occurred not only in the design and execution of research, but also in the translation of research findings into clinical practice. It seems there is resistance to the research data in the ECT community, and perhaps in psychiatry in general.”
For more information, download and read the free CCHR report, “Psychiatry Destroys Minds – ECT: The Brutal Reality” from http://www.cchrstl.org/ect.shtml.
Notice: The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has opened a public docket (FDA-2010-N-0585) to receive information and comments regarding the classification of electroconvulsive therapy devices (ECT.) In other words, the FDA wants to classify ECT machines as safe and effective medical devices. If you have comments regarding the safety of ECT machines, they must be filed by January 25, 2011. Obviously, these machines are not safe, seeing the outright harm they cause to individuals; please let the FDA know what you think. Submit written comments and information to the Division of Dockets Management (HFA-305), Food and Drug Administration, 5630 Fishers Lane, Room 1061, Rockville, MD 20852. Submit electronic comments and information to http://www.regulations.gov by searching for Docket FDA-2010-N-0585 and clicking the Submit a Comment button for the “Neurological Devices Panel of the Medical Devices Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting.”