| Date: Friday, January 6, 1995
CHICAGO TRIBUNE
British Expert Warns Against
Shock Therapy for Children
Electroconvulsive or shock therapy should not be used for children under 16
because it may cause memory problems and too little is known about other
potential hazards, a psychiatric consultant said Thursday.
Dr. Tony Baker, writing in the British medical journal Lancet, questioned
the ethics of the treatment known as ECT, saying anecdotes of misuse and damage
to unsuspecting and uninformed patients abounded.
In ECT, a short burst of electric current is sent through the brain to
induce a convulsion. Although its use has declined, the therapy is still
considered important for some patients with severe depression or schizophrenia.
Baker said such electric currents are associated with memory problems and
that "young skulls have a lower electrical resistance and for the same
electric charge will be exposed to higher current than other skulls."
The British consultant, an expert in childhood trauma, also said ECT should
be conducted on those over 16 only under a license system.
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