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**PLEASE** don't have ECT

Posted by med_empowered on November 4, 2005, at 1:18:32

In reply to Re: ECT and glutamate overload, cause of damage?, posted by iforgotmypassword on November 4, 2005, at 0:36:29

ECT was developed in the 30s, based upon the use of electricity on pigs in slaughterhouses. It was thought of as "annihilation therapy"--the term alone should give you an idea about what kind of "therapeutic effect" they were aiming for. It hit the big time in the age of "brain damaging therapy"--basically, from the 20s-50s, there seemed to be an idea that the way to cure the brain was to (partially) destroy it or reduce some of its functions. This gave us..metrazol therapy (injecting patients with metrazol until they had frightening, vertebrae-shattering seizures), "inhalation therapy"--forcing patients into an oxygen-deprived state until they passed out and/or died (caused LOTS of brain damage), "insulin therapy"--inducing an insulin coma, then reviving the patient; had a 10% death rate, and caused mad brain damage...and finally, LOBTOMY, which was pretty much the most straightforward form of intentionally-inflicted brain damage ("therapy") ever invented.

ECT is making something of a "comeback," but that's largely for financial reasons. In the age of HMOs, docs can make much more doing ECT sessions (usually with medication as part of the package) than they can just doing medication. It really doesn't work that well--I have relatives who had it (at very good psychiatric hospitals) and they're not as depressed, but they are much dumber, generally unhappy, and still heavily medicated. Ideally, treatment for depression should involve working WITH your brain, not against it via jolts of electricity. Its worth noting that the Italian doc who first "developed" ECT (a better term would be "stole" or "adapted to human use" since it was based on slaughterhouse techniques) stopped using it, and spoke out against it. Its really not that effective--relapses are pretty commmon--and it tends to cause cognitive impairment. If you're wondering why cognitive impairment doesn't always show up on ECT studies, ask yourself: who's measuring? The answer: usually, the same doctor who does ECT will do post-ECT testing for cognitive issues. Not surprisingly, the doctor who makes his/her living doing ECT **rarely** finds any significant cognitive impairment. Also, its important to realize that the ECT industry is worth about $5 Billion, so there are big bucks at stake here.


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Psycho-Babble Medication | Framed

poster:med_empowered thread:574720
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051031/msgs/575249.html