Debate over ECT

Some things doctors never tell their patients, the following is a great example. Would you guess that a form of torture in many countries is used as “therapy” here in the United States? That’s right, “[Electroconvulsive shock treatment] was used on nearly all political prisoners held in Brazil in the 1970s” (Chavin 1). Brazil is not alone in this form of medical torture. South Africa, Libya, Iran and Morocco have all been known to use Electroconvulsive shock therapy (ECT) as a form of torture (Chavin 1).

ECT has been around since the 1930s and is an electrical current passing through the brain, which brings on seizures in the patient. It came from the idea that seizures and schizophrenia did not occur at the same time in one person. The why and how of this therapy is still not known (United States 1). Doctors most commonly use ECT treatments with clinically depressed, elderly individuals (Manly 1). Electroconvulsive shock therapy is a risky procedure with no guarantees and is too dangerous to be using on humans.

The opposition believes that ECT is the best way to treat life-threatening depression due to its immediate results. They also argue that when used in the right settings and under correct s

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In two years the number rose to 46% with shock treatment and 10% with drugs (Cauchon 2).

According to Cauchon, “The death rate for elderly patients who receive shock is 50 times higher than patients are told on the American Psychiatric Association’s [APA] model consent form”. Therefore, a patient receiving 21 shocks will pay about $18,000, and that is on an in-patient basis. This kind of information is hard to find due to the fact that 49 states don’t keep good records for these cases. In the Surgeon Generals report, it states, “The antidepressant effect of ECT occurs faster than that seen with medication…” (1). With the medication 39% relapsed (Study 1). But placed in a hospital setting and cloaked in muscle relaxants… it is suddenly and inexplicitly pronounced ‘therapy’” (Chavin 2). That’s the story of just one woman who died after enough electricity to power a light bulb went coursing through her body.

The problem is “that electroshock is a form of torture. John Friedberg showed that ECT indeed does have harmful effects on the brain. Prisoners in Brazil in the 1970s said that various body parts were given electroshock (Chavin 1). It can take a patient up to 10 minutes after receiving the shock treatment before that patient can remember who they are and where they are (2). Then, she had a heart attack while in the recovery room.

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