On March 4, 2020, the very eminent Allen Frances, MD, published an article in Aeon, which according to its About page is “a digital magazine, publishing some of the most profound and provocative thinking on the web. We ask the big questions and find the freshest, most original answers, provided by leading thinkers on science,… Continue Reading
I was a Victim and Came Back: My Empowerment Story
Everyone has their own story, some fortunate, some less so. Mine is a story of abuse, neglect and mental illness, and the long road… Continue Reading
Speaking Out Against Electric Shocks
“…they’re human beings, for God’s sake! In the name of everything holy, how can they do that to them?” (p 108) The Other Mrs. Smith, by Bonnie Burstow, 2017 In the March 2017 issue of the Journal of ECT, there was an editorial titled: Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in the News: “Balance” Leads to Bias…. Continue Reading
ECT: Safe and Effective for Agitation and Aggression in Cases of Dementia?
On March 25 of this year, Psychiatric Times published an article titled Dementia, Agitation, and Aggression: The Role of Electroconvulsive Therapy. The author is Manjola Ujkaj, MD PhD, and the article’s subtitle is “What role might electroconvulsive therapy play for short-term treatment of agitation and aggression in patients with dementia?” According to their website Psychiatric… Continue Reading
ECT for Agitation and Aggression in Dementia
On May 16, 2014, the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry published an article by Deepa Archarya, PhD, et al. The article is titled Safety and utility of acute electroconvulsive therapy for agitation and aggression in dementia. Here are the authors’ conclusions: “Electroconvulsive therapy may be a safe treatment option to reduce symptoms of agitation and… Continue Reading
A Macabre Celebration: 80 Years of Convulsive ‘Therapy’
There’s an interesting article in the June 2014 issue of the Journal of ECT. It’s written by Max Fink, MD, and is titled Celebrating 80 Years of Inducing Brain Seizures as Psychiatric Treatment. Dr. Fink is a psychiatrist and neurologist, and professor emeritus of psychiatry and neurology at the State University of New York, Stony Brook…. Continue Reading
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
TMS is a psychiatric treatment that uses a rapidly alternating magnetic field to induce electric currents in the brain. These currents stimulate neurons, causing them to “fire.” When used repetitively, TMS is said to alter the excitability of the brain area that has been stimulated. In the psychiatric field, TMS is being used increasingly as… Continue Reading
Understanding Human Behavior
A couple of months ago I wrote an article concerning ECT which generated some controversy. One of the issues that came up was the relationship between biological explanations of human activity and more global explanations, which, for want of a better term, I’ll call person-centered explanations. Any human activity can be viewed from different levels… Continue Reading
Is Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Effective?
ECT, or shock treatment as it’s sometimes called, is a controversial topic. Adherents describe it as safe and effective; opponents condemn its use as damaging and ineffective. But it is still widely used in the US and in other countries. The treatment consists essentially of passing sufficient electricity across the brain to cause a seizure. … Continue Reading
ECT And Adolescents At The Mayo Clinic
BACKGROUND At the APA annual convention in San Francisco in May of this year, Chad Puffer, DO, of the Mayo Clinic, presented a poster display titled ECT Use in Adolescents at the Mayo Clinic. The poster was reported by Caroline Cassels of Medscape.com, a month later (ECT in Kids: Safe, Effective, Robust and …Underutilized), and… Continue Reading
Involuntary Shock Treatment To Be Banned in Ireland
Courtesy of Talla Trialogue on Twitter, I recently read an article in journal.ie on this topic. Kathleen Lynch, Minister of State for Disability, Equality, Mental Health and Older People, has reportedly stated that “…the law will be changed so that unwilling patients will no longer be forced to receive ECT.” At present, if an individual… Continue Reading
Psychiatry Has the Moral High Ground (According to Jeffrey Lieberman)
BACKGROUND As I suppose everyone knows by now, psychiatry has been on the receiving end of some very serious criticism in recent years. The criticism has come from many sources, including: survivors of psychiatric “treatment,” non-psychiatric mental health practitioners, journalists, the general public, and even from some psychiatrists themselves. The content of the criticisms has… Continue Reading
ECT – New and Improved?
I’ve just come across a strange article on Mad in America. It’s called Researchers look at therapeutic benefits of ketamine. You can see it here. It doesn’t identify an author, but it’s from the University of Manchester. The opening paragraph says: “The largest trial into the use of Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in the UK in… Continue Reading
Shock “Treatment” Is Not Safe and Provides Little If Any Benefit
DELICATE THINGS REQUIRE DELICATE HANDLING When I was a teenager, one of my hobbies was making small transistor radios. It sounds complicated, but is well within the reach of an average 15-year-old. You get some magazine articles, learn how to read a circuit, and learn how to use a soldering iron. A transistor is a… Continue Reading