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Shocked! ECT
Archives - 2002
MH bill - UK
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
A response to the UK Mental Health Bill
Read response
Jury still out
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
Ever since Jack Nicholson won an Academy Award playing Randle McMurphy in One
Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, electroshock therapy has had a bad name. While the
practice no doubt has seen its better days, the myths surrounding the practice
have so prejudiced the general public's opinion that the reality of this
practice has been shrouded in fear and mystery.
More
Debate rages over safety of ECT
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
Marianne Ueberschar checked herself into the city's Centre for Addiction and
Mental Health two years ago suffering from suicidal depression. Like many older
women entering psychiatric wards in Canada, Ueberschar, now 69, was offered
electroconvulsive shock therapy, or ECT. She refused, and fought a legal battle
with the institution to prevent it from administering the treatment.
Read full story
Forced ECT
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
In the UK, hundreds given ECT without consent, government now admits
Read More
Medical studies advertisement
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
Two new articles about medical studies:
Journal articles sometimes misleading: One of world's leading medical journals
has put itself and its competitors under the microscope with research showing
that published studies are sometimes misleading and frequently fail to mention
weaknesses.
More
Separating the gold from the junk: How to become a critical reader of
studies.
More
More on fish oil
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
Another report on the benefits of fish oil in the treatment of depression.
More
New Self-Help Booklets Promote
Recovery
added: Monday, November 18, 2002
Techniques to help reduce the effects of trauma, make lifestyle changes to
positively affect emotional well-being, and build strong relationships are a
few of the issues addressed in a series of new self -help guides developed to
help people with psychiatric disabilities. The booklets were released by the
Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).
How to order these free booklets
New Consumer Perspectives Study
added: Monday, May 27, 2002
A new study from the SURE Institute of Psychiatry (UK) is quite extensive and
concludes that consumer dissatisfaction with ECT is much more widespread than
is continuously reported. (The industry claims that this voice is no more than
a vocal minority, a claim disputed by this study.) The study makes
recommendations regarding the large gaps in research that exist today. (This is
a PDF file, and you need the free
Adobe Acrobat Reader to
view.)
Consumer Perspectives
Analysis of NY bills
added: Monday, May 27, 2002
Tina Minkowitz has written an analysis of the New York bills that were
introduced by Marty Luster concerning ECT.
New York bill analysis
Protestors bring attention to Matthews'
plight
added: Sunday, May 12, 2002
Supporters of a man who has received 130 forced electro-shock treatments in
three years gathered yesterday for a protest rally outside Riverview
Hospital.
Rally
Health Authority launches probe
added: Sunday, May 12, 2002
The newly created Provincial Health Services Authority is beginning its own
probe of an elderly Riverview Hospital patient who has received more than 100
electric shock treatments against his will.
At the same time, the Public Guardian and
Trustee's office of B.C. is "pursuing and making inquiries" about
alternatives to the electroconvulsive treatments that 71-year-old Michael
Matthews has received.
Probe
Banned from Riverview
added: Sunday, May 12, 2002
From Vancouver Sun: A woman who has been an advocate for a Riverview Hospital
patient over his numerous and ongoing electric shock treatments has been banned
from the hospital and ordered not to have any contact with him.
Banned
Read the letter to Butler
"They hurt, I don't want
it"
added: Sunday, May 12, 2002
From the Vancouver Sun: 130 shock treatments: 'They hurt, I don't want it'
Public trustee's office investigates Riverview case
The Public Guardian and Trustee's office of B.C. is investigating the case of
an elderly Riverview Hospital patient who has received more than 130 electric
shock treatments over the past three years, sometimes as often as every few
days.
They hurt
ECT-induced Post Traumatic Stress
Disorder
added: Sunday, May 12, 2002
A new article about how ECT induces
PTSD and what can be done to aid recovery, from
David Armstrong. I strongly
believe this is an effect of ECT that is almost always overlooked, so this is
an important article to read! (PDF format - can get a free reader at Adobe.com
if you don't already have it)
Michael Matthews Updates
added: Sunday, May 12, 2002
Michael Matthews, the elderly man in Vancouver at Riverview Hospital, has had
at least 130 shocks. The Vancouver Sun continues to report the story on its
front page and apply pressure to the folks at Riverview. The CEO of Riverview
has resigned, although the official story is that it was due to restructuring.
You may remember Riverview coming under fire last year when a psychiatrist
there went public with his concerns over the increased use of ECT after the
government increased payments for the procedure. That psychiatrist was fired,
with the hospital saying it had nothing to do with his whistleblowing
efforts.
Michael Matthews updates
New stats from Ontario
added: Saturday, March 23, 2002
Don Weitz has compiled new stats from Ontario on the use of ECT, plus its use
on women.
Ontario statistics
Vancouver man needs help against weekly forced
shocks
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Michael Matthews receives ECT every Friday against his will. You can help fight
back by emailing those in charge and expressing your outrage over this
continuing human rights violation. A hospital employee was the first to sound
the alarm about Michael, saying the ECT is causing rapid deterioration.
Michael Matthews
Death of ECT
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
In Italy, where it began more than 62 years ago, ECT has almost been abolished.
In some countries, however, ECT is still used inappropriately, particularly in
elderly patients. There is no medical, moral, or legal justification for ECT,
and the new requirements of modern psychiatric practice can all be achieved
without it. Like prefrontal lobotomy and all previous shock treatments, ECT is
non-viable. The death of ECT will help promote mental health and put the
treatment where it belongs - in the archaeology of science. From the journal
Advances in Therapy by the always wonderful team of Youssefs.
Death of ECT
New York issues new report
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
FORTY PERCENT of ECT patients in the state of New York receive ECT under court
orders, according to a new survey released by the state.
More
New Hall of Shame Entry
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Lying for fun and profit, by Linda Andre, director of CTIP. Welcome Harold
Sackeim into the Hall of Shame!
Harold Sackeim
Jolt to the brain
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
"The image isn't easily eradicated from memory -- malcontent Randall
McMurphy (Jack Nicholson) writhing in agony while undergoing shock treatment in
1975's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Yet shock treatment -- or
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), as its practitioners dub it -- isn't barbaric,
as that classic movie moment might have us believe."
From The Washington Times
Nutritional supplements in bipolar
disorder
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
A new study on using nutritional supplements in bipolar has shown some success.
Although the study was very small, the results may be promising: "For
those who completed the minimum 6-month open trial, symptom reduction ranged
from 55% to 66% on the outcome measures; need for psychotropic medications
decreased by more than 50%."
Read the study
Herbal Treatments for Memory Deficits from
ECT
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Herbal Treatments for ECS-Induced Memory Deficits: A Review of Research and a
Discussion on Animal Models - this article discusses the problems of memory
loss during ECT and reviews the use of traditional herbal methods in combatting
the deficits. From Journal Of ECT.
The Study
Alternatives
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
This article examines alternative therapies such as St. Johns Wort and ginko in
mood disorders and their role in memory problems: Alternative therapies are
widely used by consumers. A number of herbs and dietary supplements have
demonstrable effects on mood, memory, and insomnia. There is a significant
amount of evidence supporting the use of Hypericum perforatum (St. John's wort)
for depression and Ginkgo biloba for dementia. Results of randomized,
controlled trials also support the use of kava for anxiety and valerian for
insomnia. Although evidence for the use of vitamins and amino acids as sole
agents for psychiatric symptoms is not strong, there is intriguing preliminary
evidence for the use of folate, tryptophan, and phenylalanine as adjuncts to
enhance the effectiveness of conventional antidepressants. S-adenosylmethionine
seems to have antidepressant effects, and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids,
particularly docosahexaenoic acid, may have mood-stabilizing effects. More
research should be conducted on these and other natural products for the
prevention and treatment of various psychiatric disorders.
Alternative therapies
Hormone testing
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
An interesting piece from BBC News: In this small study, a researcher claims
that a hormone test prior to ECT can determine who will benefit and who will be
harmed from ECT. As it stands now, it's all a crapshoot, with the outcome only
known post-ECT.
Hormone testing
Commentary on ECT in Scotland
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Alex Doherty has written to Richard Norris of the Scottish Association for
Mental Health (SAMH). In the letter, Doherty comments on the publication
"ECT
in Scotland."
Commentary from Alex Doherty
Abolished
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
ECT has been abolished in the Republic of Slovenia.
Abolished
Informed Consent
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
From Dr. John Breeding: Abstract: Informed consent is a vital issue in all
forms of medicine, especially in psychiatry, where patients are often in
extremely vulnerable states of mind, customary practice involves high risk to
patients, and the law allows for abrogation of traditional civil rights based
on judgments of perceived mental incompetence. This article addresses informed
consent related to the practice of electroshock. The author argues that genuine
informed consent for electroshock is nonexistent because psychiatrists deny or
minimize its harmful effects and, as long as the threat--overt or covert--of
involuntary treatment exists, there can be no truly voluntary informed consent.
The author discusses four primary ways psychiatry violates informed consent in
electroshock practice and presents an outline of important information to know
about electroshock. An annotated review of the research is provided to back up
each of the author's assertions about medical effects and lack of efficacy of
electroshock.
Read it
Lake Alice Legacy
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
The terrible legacy of Lake Alice (New Zealand): In Niuean, the message said:
"I have been given electric shock by the people, Mum. The pain is very
bad."
Legacy
Darkness and Light
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Into the Darkness Into the Light: Local patients report radically different
effects from electroshock therapy. An extensive article from Newsday.
Full story
Both sides welcome review
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
From the UK: News that the national institute for clinical excellence (Nice)
has been asked to deliver a definitive verdict on the use of electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT) has led to rare agreement between psychiatrists and service users
on the controversial practice.
Few medical treatments have so divided health
professionals and service users as ECT. While regarded as a lifesaver by most
psychiatrists, many former patients believe that it is barbaric and has ruined
their lives. However, both the pro and anti lobby have welcomed the Nice
review, believing its appraisal guidance will raise standards of practice.
Review
Pamphlet withdrawn
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Distribution of a pamphlet on electroconvulsive therapy (shock treatment)
published by the Mental Health Division of the Health Department of West
Australia, has been discontinued, following a complaint.
Pamphlet
UK Lawsuit
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
UK man is awarded half a million pounds in lawsuit settlement, after ECT leaves
him paralyzed and with speech difficulties.
Lawsuit
Sunday Times
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
From the Sunday Times of London: Some countries refuse to use it. Scientists
have little idea how it works, and precious few doctors have been properly
trained to administer it. But in contrast with much of the rest of Europe,
patients in Britain are routinely sedated and shot through with electricity, in
an attempt to fix their troubled minds. The horror stories surrounding
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) abound. This is the poet Sylvia Plath's grimly
eloquent account from her autobiographical novel The Bell Jar: ''Don't worry,'
the nurse grinned down at me. 'Their first time, everybody's scared to death.'
'I tried to smile, but my skin had gone stiff, like parchment. Doctor Gordon
was fitting two metal plates on either side of my head. He buckled them into
place with a strap that dented my forehead, and gave me a wire to bite.
Full article
ECT and suicide
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Retrospective controlled study of inpatient ECT: does it prevent suicide?
Background: This study examined the use of ECT among inpatients who committed
suicide at a provincial psychiatric hospital. Methods: A total of 45
psychiatric in-patients who committed suicide at a provincial psychiatric
hospital were compared with a gender, age and admission diagnosis matched group
of 45 hospitalized patients to examine the use of electroconvulsive therapy
during the last 3 months of hospitalization. Results: No difference in the
utilization of ECT was found in the two groups. Limitations: Retrospective
design and small sample size. Conclusions: We failed to demonstrate that ECT
had prevented suicide in hospitalized patients. Future prospective studies with
large sample size are needed to further examine this question.
Sharma study
Riverview psychiatrist fired
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
More on the Riverview scandal: A psychiatrist at Riverview Hospital says he has
been fired for blowing the whistle on "greedy" colleagues and trying
to protect elderly patients. Dr. Jaime Paredes, who alleged last year that some
doctors at the institution were performing needless electro-shock therapy to
plump their bank accounts, said he was told a week ago his contract was being
terminated.
Fired
Point/Counterpoint
added: Thursday, March 14, 2002
Taking a stand against ECT, Tom Keen of Plymouth University:
ECT is ineffective, unsafe, cruel and crude and causes patients to experience
severe and disabling psychological side effects - anything from social unease
to memory loss. We have absolutely no idea how shock treatment works, yet it is
being administered in this country in a way that is, at times, completely
cavalier.
For ECT, Psychiatrist Mark Salter:
Yes, the effects of ECT often don't last very long, but I would rather have six
or seven weeks relief from a psychiatric illness than none at all. Also, at
least two people I have given ECT in the past five years are still well now.
(ed comment: two patients in five years is not something I'd be bragging
about)
Second Opinion
'Beautiful'-but Not Rare-Recovery
added: Tuesday, March 12, 2002
John Nash's Genius Is Extraordinary. Recovering From Schizophrenia Is Anything
But. Psychiatric researchers who have tracked patients after they left mental
hospitals, as well as a growing number of recovered patients who have banded
together to form a mental health consumer movement, contend that recovery of
the kind Nash experienced is not rare.
Recovering from schizophrenia
Electrical lobotomy
added: Tuesday, February 26, 2002
Psychiatrist and author Peter Breggin says shock treatment is little more than
an electrical lobotomy.
Breggin says electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) causes brain damage - and, he
says, most psychiatrists know it. From the Kenora Enterprise (Canada)
Full story
Debate still rages...
added: Tuesday, February 26, 2002
But ECT has made a comeback, mostly in the treatment of depression related
symptoms. In 1997 Ontario doctors billed OHIP for 12,400 treatments. That is a
jump from the 1993-94 figure of 9,506. Patients usually receive two to three
treatments per week for two to four weeks.
Debate
Survivor continues to speak out
added: Monday, February 18, 2002
Wayne Lax from Kenora is a psychiatric survivor. He spent from the mid 1960s
until 1992 in and out of hospitals in Kenora, Thunder Bay and Winnipeg. During
those hospital stays he was subject to about 80 shock treatments. He was
prescribed various medications at various times without any monitoring of the
results of those medications. At one point he was on 17 different medications
that were supposed to overcome his depression. He was also consuming alcohol on
a regular basis.
During this period Wayne held a taxi license
and this was his occupation between hospital stays. At no time during the 25
years of treatment did his occupation change because no one made any steps to
get his license revoked.
Speak out
He was high as a kite
added: Monday, February 18, 2002
Wayne Lax shouldn't have been 'flying high' in his taxi - but he was. Lax says
he drove cab in Kenora from 1959 till 1986, including much of the period during
which he was under medication and receiving electroconvulsive therapy (ECT),
also known as shock treatment.
Physicians and doctors are required by law to inform the ministry of
transportation if they believe a patient is medically or mentally incapable of
driving.
High as a kite
Shock therapy hindered recovery
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
A Kenora man who says he endured almost 25 years of progressive memory loss,
coupled with hallucinations and bouts of confusion and depression, thinks he
shock treatment he underwent may have contributed to his troubles.
Hindered
Kenora Man Takes to World Stage
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
His story centres on what he believes to be the inappropriate use of
electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or shock treatment. ECT is a recognized
psychiatric tool, but it has come under increasing scrutiny as survivor after
survivor has come forward to relate personal stories about its often profoundly
damaging effect.
His story
On a crusade
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
Lax who suffered from deep depression and extreme alcoholism after the death of
his brother was treated by doctors with two types of medical practises. One
involved pharmaceuticals arid the other was electro-shock therapy. At one point
he was on 17 different drugs per day and all the while was shock treated 80
times in that period of time. With that in mind one would think that he was
incapable of driving and that medical professionals would have notified the
Ministry of Transportation of his constant impairment.
His crusade
Quick and easy, she was told
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
As a psychologist, Theresa, 64, helped countless people cope with mental health
problems but never experienced them herself. Until, at age 59, a major
depression hit. Her own psychoanalyst dumped her. She just said "can't
help you any more, you're too far gone. You're no longer my patient,"
Theresa says. Theresa's colleagues recognized the symptoms of depression and
recommended hospitalization inpatient experience with disdain. "The
doctors were very condescending. There was no psychotherapy at all. They didn't
believe in that. They only wanted to treat me with drugs."
People behind the stories
Wayne Lax speaks out against
shock
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
I spent 25 years in a state of confusion and despair. My brother died and I
turned to alcohol. I had 108 admissions, and approximately 80 ECT treatments.
They were treating me for an addiction; they did this with ECT treatments; the
doctors kept giving me more and more medication (every drug under the sun), up
to 17 different pills per day. As a result of the shock treatments, I am
missing large portions of my memory and suffer chronic severe back pain from
not enough relaxants.
Speaking out
"I don't want to knock anybody. I want
change."
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
Wayne Lax of Kenora, after 25 years haunted by alcoholism, extensive drug
therapy, and more than 80 shock treatments, is now taking a stand against
impaired driving.
But it's not specifically drinking and driving he has his sights on - Lax said
patients taking prescription drugs also pose a hazard on the road.
"I don't want to knock anybody. I want
change."
Wayne Lax's Comeback Story
added: Sunday, February 17, 2002
Wayne Lax doesn't remember his wedding day. He doesn't remember his suicide
attempts. He doesn't even remember much about his son.
That's because over a 25-year period he was in hospital 108 times, medicated
with up to 17 pills a day, and subject to 80 electroconvulsive shocks.
Full story
archives for 2003, 2001 and 2000
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