Posted by Psychquackery on August 25, 2003, at 12:45:32
In reply to Re: Severe melancholia should be treated with ECT, posted by tealady on August 25, 2003, at 5:04:40
> 1. Dumb question..what is ECT?
ECT is a robust treatment for severe mood disorders known as ElectroConvulsive Therapy. Or shock treatment.
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> 2. <severe depression that responds poorly to antidepressant drugs alone>...OK, so why doesn't the doc try something else if antidepressants alone don't work....like thyroid or estrogen? "Hormones and the Mind" By Edward L. Klaiber M.D a psychoneuroendocrinolgist, explains how some women don't respond to antidepressants until their estrogen levels are fixed. I assume similar stories would occur with other hormones.Augmentation strategies for refractory depression are poorly studied and usually dont work as well as psychopharmacologists would like us to believe. ECT on the other hand, is extremely well studied and its effectiveness is well documented. Study after study after study concludes bilateral ECT is the single most effective treatment for severe depression, mania and catatonia and works even when drugs dont work.
Submitting refractorily depressed individuals to endless drug/hormone augmentation strategies is cruel and usually yields shoddy results. Going straight to ECT is more of a sure thing and is backed up by tons of credible studies.
Igor
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poster:Psychquackery
thread:253709
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030823/msgs/253881.html