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
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: Hypotheses About Mechanisms of Action
There’s a new article on Frontiers in Psychiatry. It’s titled Electroconvulsive treatment: hypotheses about mechanisms of action. The authors are Roar Fosse, Division of Mental Health and Addiction, Vestro Viken State Hospital Trust, Lier, Norway, and John Read, Institute of Psychology, Health, and Society, University of Liverpool, UK. Thanks to Mick Bramham on Twitter for… Continue Reading
ECT – Benefits Are Short-lived
Last Monday (August 26), Lauren Spiro published a post on Mad in America. The post is titled The Today Show and ECT: The Full Story & Informed Consent. Here’s the gist of Lauren’s article. On August 20, the Today Show ran a segment on ECT (electric shock “treatment”). Lauren contends that the coverage was not… Continue Reading
Shock Treatment In Israel
I’ve recently come across (courtesy of Tallaght Trialogue on Twitter) an article titled: The Court: Electroshock treatments should not be forced on psychiatric patients. The original was in Israel Hayom, an Israeli newspaper, and was written by Edna Adato. The English version above was on occupypsychiatry.net, and was translated by Janna Weiss. The article is… 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
The Wellbeing Foundation
Thanks to Tommy Morrela on Twitter, I’ve become aware of The Wellbeing Foundation. They are located in Ireland. Here are some quotes from their About Us page. “To call human suffering a disease, something pathological, is deluded. The biological model of psychological distress has no basis in science; it takes away from the equation between… Continue Reading
A Victim of Psychiatry Speaks Out
I’ve recently come across an October 2012 article by Ted Chabasinski. It’s on Mad in America and it’s called: Our Task Is to Take Away the Power of Psychiatry. Ted tells us that he was was subjected to electric shock “treatment” when he was six years old. You can see a brief bio here. Here… 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
The Power of Words to Shape Attitudes
I recently wrote a post called: Do Major Tranquilizers Make Things Worse? The post was based on a study by Drs. Harrow and Jobe in which they speculated that the high relapse rate of “schizophrenics” who stop taking their drugs may have more to do with drug withdrawal than the supposed drug efficacy. Monica, at… 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