Studies

This study examines patient views toward ECT, a serious flaw in previous research. Read the abstract or the full version of this 1996 study.

Misinformation exposed

A major article from the Journal of Mind and Behavior: ECT: Sham Statistics, the Myth of Convulsive Therapy, and the Case for Consumer Misinformation. This hard-hitting study exposes the myths, misinformation, and the truth about this controversial treatment. Find out why today's kinder and gentler ECT is nothing but a public relations campaign from the ECT industry.

California statistics

California is one of the few states that requires data collection regarding ECT. Here are statistics from 1989-1994 from the California Department of Mental Health. The APA says that only 1 in 200 have memory loss. The data says it's a little higher...40 TIMES higher!

Does Electroconvulsive Therapy Prevent Suicide?

From Convulsive Therapy, 1986. This article examines whether or not ECT protects against suicide. The authors (Milstein, et al.) conclude, with some disappointment that ECT does NOT offer any long-term protection against suicide. In fact, say the authors, "patients who committed suicide were more apt to have received ECT than those who died from other causes..."

Electroshock: Scientific, ethical and political issues

From Dr. Peter Breggin, this comprehensive article explains how ECT works as head trauma, and goes into the scientific, ethical and political ramifications of the controversial treatment. A Must Read!

Informed Consent

Legal Parameters of Informed Consent Applied to Electroconvulsive Therapy. This article by John Parry discusses legal decisions regarding consent issues, competency and commitment.

Can ECT permanently harm the brain?

This 1982 article says it has, and can, cause permanent brain pathology. Cognitive deficits are accepted by the medical community, says this article. What is subject to debate is whether or not those deficits are permanent. The authors examine the issue of permanent brain damage by looking at the similarities in autopsied brains of epileptics and ECT patients, as well as animal studies. The common sense conclusion not accepted by the ECT industry is that the more ECTs, the more permanent brain damage. In fact, they say, "the fact that many patients and subjects suffer no demonstrable permanent effects has provided rationale for some authorities to commit the non-sequitur that ECT causes no permanent harm."

Memory and ECT

Bilateral and Unilateral ECT: Effects on Verbal and Nonverbal Memory is an intensive study of the kinds of memory loss associated with the two types of ECT. Authors Squire and Slater conclude that unilateral effects on memory are not as widespread as in bilateral ECT, but that "it should be noted that some risks to memory exist even for unilateral ECT." Additionally, they cite a survey by the APA which reported that 75 percent of 3,000 respondents used bilateral ECT for all their patients.

The famous Freeman, Weeks and Kendell study

Patients Who Complain, a descriptive study of 26 ECT patients who felt that ECT had left them with permanent, negative effects. Authors Freeman, Weeks and Kendell recruited complaining patients via a newspaper and through hospital personnel. A group of volunteers who did not have ECT acted as the control group. Careful attention was paid to trying to factor in medications and levels of depression to account for some memory loss (a common allegation from the ECT industry is that any memory loss is from these factors, and not the ECT itself). Say the authors, "However, even when these factors and three other variables were taken into account not all the difference could be explained."

ECT and pregnancy

This article on the use of ECT during pregnancy examines the data of the effects of ECT, and the drugs used, on the fetus. ECT is often used during pregnancy because psychiatric medications can have disastrous effects on the fetus. If you're pregnant, and considering ECT, here's a good starting point in your research.

ECT and the brain

Dr. John Friedberg, writing in the American Journal of Psychiatry, takes an in-depth look at the effects of ECT on the brain and questions, "Do we really want to offer brain damage to our patients?"

Stats from Canada

Some interesting statistics on ECT from Quebec Science.

Censorship at CMHS

The Center for Mental Health Studies report is out! (I was a member of the Task Force in Washington, D.C.) The bad news is that CMHS *did* censor the report, after hiring Linda Andre as a consultant. Exclusive to the Shocked! site, read what CMHS censored, due to the lobbying efforts of NAMI and others who don't want any negative information about ECT to be made public. NAMI=censorship.

CMHS Report is released

The official Center for Mental Health Services (CMHS) reportis out! After lots of politics about this report, including efforts by NAMI to censor any information critical to ECT, the report is here online!

Among the findings:

*It is.. .well established that ECT produces memory deficits. Deficits in memory function, which have been demonstrated objectively and repeatedly, persist after the termination of a normal course of ECT.

*The importance (and lack of) informed consent

*The use of coercion

*Immediate research needs, including the need to fully research memory loss and brain damage concerns.

From the United Kingdom, a massive report on the use of ECT across the UK, with numerous statistics on its use by gender, ethnic group, age, voluntary status, and so on. Warning: This is an enormous report. Or, just read the section dealing with ECT patient attitudes.

Psychopathology of Frontal Lobe Syndrome

This article from Seminars in Neurology details frontal lobe syndrome, which many neurologists believe is one of the side effects of ECT. The researcher explains how this injury is often difficult to measure clinically, but how damaging the results are to the person who has it.

Efficacy of ECT

Two studies on the efficacy of ECT. The first shows the need for high-dose (2.5 times the electricity needed to produce a convulsion, also known as suprathreshold) bilateral ECT; the second, the correlation between being medication resistant and the likelihood of poor results from ECT.

Neuropsychological assesment

This journal article from Dr. Alan E. Brooker, clinical neuropsychologist with the USAF, details the complexities of evaluating the function of the brain. What this shows is how extensive the measurements are when truly understanding how one's brain is working on a day-to-day basis. These are the kinds of tests that should be used in studying the effects of ECT. However, this just isn't done anymore. The earlier studies (most especially of Janis) used these kinds of testing, and showed conclusively the damage that results. Today's memory studies rely mostly on simple memorization of lists, which is not a good indicator of what's really going on.

Cardiovascular complications of ECT

This study, from the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, describes cardiovascular complications of ECT. CV complications are the second most frequent, after memory loss. ECT is often recommended as a first-line defense in the elderly, because antidepressants may cause cv problems. However, as this article shows, those with existing heart problems are at extremely high risk when undergoing ECT.

Electroshocking the Elderly

This alarming article by Don Weitz exposes the frequent and increasing use of ECT on the elderly, particularly elderly women. Statistics from Ontario, California and England document this trend. Studies show that the elderly patients are more vulnerable and suffer more frequent and serious medical complications, including permanent memory loss, brain damage, heart problems and death.

ECT as head injury?

In a report for the National Head Injury Foundation, the case is made that ECT works by inducing the effects of head injury. This well-researched report highlights the work of many neurologists and psychiatrists who believe this is the mechanism of action of ECT, as well as case reports of patients. Included are some great tips on recovery.

The effects of ECT on suicide

Do modern psychiatric treatments help prevent suicide? These provocative questions have been asked repeatedly since effective treatments for the major psychiatric illnesses were developed beginning with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). This study concludes: "mortality did not differ between patients having a lifetime history of ECT and patients never having had ECT. We conclude from a short-term follow-up of depressives that mode of therapy received in the hospital has minimal influence on subsequent mortality, including suicide. "

ECT on children

Here are some chilling excerpts from the American Journal of Psychiatry which irresponsibly sanitizes the many catastrophic and permanent effects of electroshock on children.

Peer reviews may not be good quality

This article highlights a recent study that concludes peer reviews of articles conducted by medical and scientific journals are often of questionable quality. The study was presented at a conference on biomedical peer review in Prague; other studies presented at this conference indicated (among other things) strong regionalist/nationalist biases in citation of authorities and lack of international collaboration.

EEG Monitoring in ECT

This article by Richard Abrams and Max Fink corroborates the fact that ECT is basically a crapshoot and poorly understood. The discussion of EEG monitoring is interesting enough, but in the end, the authors reiterate basic ECT advice: if what you're doing isn't working, up the electricity and do the procedure more often.

What's most explosive, however, was probably missed by the majority of psychiatrists who read the article.

Richard Abrams owns Somatics, Inc., manufacturer of the Thymatron ECT device. At least when he wrote the 'bible' on ECT (Electroconvulsive Therapy, Oxford University Press), his promotion of the Thymatron was subtle. This article is little more than a blatant ad for his company's products.

" The clinical Thymatron© DGx device made by Somatics Inc. provides three quantitative measures of the seizure EEG...In 1997, Somatics introduced a proprietary computer-assisted EEG analysis system for use with their ECT device to obtain the EEG power spectral and coherence analytic measures for routine clinical use."

As if to head off any potential criticism, Abrams does mention the competition, Mecta, but adds, "The clinical significance of these measures has not been prospectively examined..."

In other words, the features of the Thymatron are backed up by research (oddly enough, done by Abrams and friends), but Mecta's are not.

Once again, the King hawks his products...and does it well. He's becoming quite skilled at this. I eagerly await the infomercial and theme song, all from the Don LaPrie of ECT.

An interesting article on memory, which says "A person who experiences physical trauma to the brain or an electroconvulsive shock may forget his past while retaining the ability to create new memories."

Pediatric ECT

An historical review of the use of ECT in pediatrics.

A review of the UK's Mental Health Act by ECT Anonymous, a large group of ECT survivors. Needs the Acrobat Reader.

Reviewing the research

Research in psychiatry clearly demonstrates that ECT is far from "safe and effective" - a phrase improperly applied as ECT, unlike a vaccine, carries no requirement that safety and efficacy is proven. Paternalistic dictum, not rational scientific basis, establishes ECT as a medical treatment; the real reason ECT is given is because doctors think it should be. ECT Anonymous has reviewed extensive literature (written by pro-ECT doctors) and shown some of the things ignored when putting together the PR materials.

Adverse psychological effects after ECT

A new study from the Journal of Mental Health examines the adverse psychological effects in ECT patients, as well as the lack of consideration doctors have given to their patients' views and concerns. Even Richard Abrams, who has been notably negligent about patient concerns admits "Doctors who give ECT have shown remarkably little interest in their patients' views of the procedure and its effects on them." An interesting statement in light of his work.

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