As it turns out, even Harold's own published articles don't support that claim. He cites only to himself as "proof", since there isn't anyone else; he usually cites, for instance, Sackeim et al, "Subjective Memory Complaints Prior to and Following Electroconvulsive Therapy", Biological Psychiatry 39: 346-356 and Sackeim et al, "Effects of depression and ECT on anterograde memory." Biological Psychiatry 21: 921-930, 1986. What this research actually shows is that patients are poor judges of their memory functioning in the days and weeks shortly following ECT, and although when asked by their shock doctors they reported their memories to be good or better than ever, in fact their performance on objective tests of memory functioning was worse. In order words, Sackeim's own research is consistent with the conclusion that patients are suffering from acute organic brain syndrome due to ECT.

Harold is so addicted to lying, he does it just for fun. A few years ago, while teaching one of his "How to do ECT" classes, he recounted an anecdote involving a well-known New York City human rights activist and a man who was Harold's patient at the time. Harold claimed that the advocate had come to his hospital, demanded to see this patient, got into the hospital and then tried to talk the patient out of having ECT. The punch line of the story - which got a resounding laugh out of the aspiring shock docs - was that this patient then decided to go ahead with ECT.

It made a great story, flattering to Harold, derogatory to what he called "the anti-ECT movement." Except for one thing: it never happened. The advocate never went near Sackeim's institution, never spoke to his patient, never tried to contact him in any way. The "anti psychiatry" organization Harold claimed she represented did not exist. He just made up the name on the spot, for purposes of his story.

His audience was completely duped, to the extent that a discussion ensued on the topic of "What would you do if anti-psychiatry came to your door?"

Did Sackeim tell his students he made up the whole thing? No, he was having too much fun. Was he maybe psychotic when he told the story? Arguably. Or as a doctor of self-deception, did he actually believe it to be true?

SHAME on Harold Sackeim for worming himself into positions of public trust, then abusing the hell out of that trust, and for making a killing doing it.

SHAME for playing the "mental patients are irrational and dishonest" card, rather than honestly investigating and documenting our reports of permanent memory loss and brain damage. (See his many government-funded articles in which he argues that people who report amnesia and cognitive deficits after ECT are crazy - for example, "Subjective Memory Complaints: A Review of Patient Self-Assessment of Memory After Electroconvulsive Therapy," Journal of ECT, June 2000.) SHAME for playing this card as an "expert witness" on the stand against persons with permanent memory loss and cognitive disability.

SHAME for playing the "violent mental patients" card with the media, as in his false claim that patients have made "death threats" on him.

SHAME for telling one of his research subjects who was brave enough to confront him after losing twenty years of memory that her memory loss "couldn't" be caused by ECT, and "must have" been caused by a stroke she had without realizing it.

SHAME for telling each one of the hundreds of survivors who've been his subjects or who've contacted him, "Your losses could not possibly be due to ECT", Ýand then saying with a straight face and fingers crossed behind his back (in court, to policymakers, to politicians, to the media) that he has "never" seen a case of permanent ECT memory loss.

Whether for fun or profit, the net effect of Harold Sackeim's lies has been to end all scientific investigation of ECT's effects on memory and the brain, and to effectively discredit survivors who report memory loss and brain damage, and to prevent future patients from being informed of ECT's permanent effects.

No one is more shameless than Harold Sackeim, and no one more richly deserves induction into the SHOCKED! ECT Hall of Shame.

Were you treated with electroshock at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)? Treated poorly? Complaints ignored? Dropped from the study and read later that you were never included in the study participants? You aren't alone, and we can help. Your privacy is guaranteed. Email, fax or call Were you an employee in the electroshock research department at New York State Psychiatric Institute (NYSPI)? You witnessed things that have weighed on your conscience ever since? Whistleblowers are encouraged to contact us. Your privacy is guaranteed.

next: Kimon Efstathianos