Here is an interview with Vaughn McCall the Professor of Psychiatry, at Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina, a friend sent me the link. The professor says “…ECT, the treatment with the worst reputation in all of medicine”
He notes Hollywood is a scourge portraying the treatment unfairly.
Professor McCall is a proponent of ECT, he talks about not knowing exactly why the treatment is effective. “The evidence is not brillant…” he admits, but also notes the treatment can rapidly help people with serious depression. ECT can be a “reasonable option” where drugs are not working.
Professor McCall talks about the “serious complications that might exist”. I am surprised he talks about the effectiveness of the treatment being short-term. This is an interesting discussion and almost more interesting than the interview are the comments posted on the site. Comments of people’s own experiences are interesting reading, each good treatment story matched with a poor treatment experience.
Involuntary ECT has a lot of negative feedback, I may be a little biased but I think that is an accurate reading of the comments.
Back in February I wrote about one friend’s experience with ECT. ECT is a treatement that scares me and I also know it to be effective so let me say again what I said in February: Fear can be stared down, you don’t have to. In any situation seek qualified advice find out what you need to know and make your own choices. Fear can be respected, or it can be overcome, both are valid choices.
There are choices except for those who are held as involuntary patients. Most of us have options, options we should all have. I can not abide involuntary treatment.
If your treatment is your choice, and it should be, consult with someone you trust.