SHOCK THERAPY
ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY (ECT)
Shock
Therapy is banned in several countries, and severely restricted in many others.
Up to 400 volts of electricity are pumped into the brains of the mentally ill,
often against their will. The aim - though psychiatrists admit they have no
idea how it works - is to induce severe convulsions to make the mentally ill
better, the depressed happier. The result, say critics, is memory loss, brain
damage, physical disability, paralysis and, too often, death. There's many
patients whose brains are frankly fried. Pat Butterfield, founder of the
pressure group ECT Anonymous, boycotted the high-profile debate on ECT. He
thinks it is a bit of a PR job. They are trying to gain a bit of credibility.
His group has 600 members, who say they have been harmed by ECT. They think it
is beyond debate. There is so much evidence that it harms people. Doctors are
certainly in favour of ECT as a treatment of last resort. It is the one
reliable treatment for severe psychotic depression, which can kill people. Some
severe depression drives people to kill themselves for no particular reason.
There is no doubt that it is a physical disorder and ECT cures that. The change
after a couple of ECTs is incredible. You are saving them and their families.
Although one patient resisted treatment or said he didn't want it, he had been
given it against his will. The doctors didn't even get a second opinion. He
became hyper and permanently confused, in the end he committed suicide. ECT
patients are given general anaesthetic and strong muscle relaxant to virtually
paralyse them, and stop dangerous physical convulsions. Their skin is smeared
with gel for electrical conduction, and electrodes are taped on the forehead.
The patient is then strapped on their back to a flat table, which pivots so
patients can be turned upside-down if they vomit. Psychiatrists increase
voltage until they get a twitching toe - a sign that the body's nervous system
is in major convulsion. The electrical storm raging through every synapse of
the brain is meant to cure patients, although psychiatrists admit they have no
idea how. Opponents hope to force a ruling on its legality. They want ECT
banned for those over 65 and under 18 and pregnant women, but most urgently on
forcing people to have it. If people are given it against their will,
psychiatrists should have to go to court to get permission.
