Electroconvulsive Therapy The term “shock therapy” likely elicits brutal images: an abused, strapped-down patient seizing painfully, limbs flailing violently, and tortured cries ringing out around a mouth gag as sadistic doctors and nurses loom above. This horrifying scene reflects exactly what Hollywood makes most people believe; but it could not be further from actuality. Modern electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) involves a mild administration of electricity to the brain, immediately relieving symptoms of such disorders as major depression and bipolar disorder. The American Psychological Association, the vast majority of medical professionals, and previous patients of this therapy show support for ECT. Unfortunately, due to non-scientific portrayal …show more content…
Early ECT treatments did not start out as neat as current procedures. Before the use of anesthetics during the shocks, patients had to endure fatiguing muscular convulsions and were likely to injure themselves while undergoing the short seizure. While ECT was is its infancy, some unethical psychiatrists used it carelessly or punitively. These factors have contributed to the persistent view of ECT as torturous, though modern ECT is significantly more cautious and harmless. Most arguments against current ECT hinge on memory loss, a known side effect whose risk is made very clear to all prospective patients. According to a study published by the Canadian Medical Association in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience Subjects, “patients who had received remote ECT had further impairment on a variety of learning and memory tests when compared with patients with no past ECT,” proving that memory hinderance is possible. Nevertheless, the doctors and scientists conducting the experiment state that their findings do not change the current “risk-benefit ratio” of the “notably effective procedure.” These professionals and many others agree that the possible side effect of memory issues does not outweigh the possible benefits brought about by a treatment. Memory loss is typically very mild except in extremely rare cases, and there is no …show more content…
Misguided by fiction and misinformation, the popular anti-ECT sentiment only increases the likelihood that a person struggling with severe mental illness will not improve their condition. Hopefully, proponents of ECT, with scientific facts on their side, will be able to dispel the harmful stigma against this overall beneficial