The problem is that we have studies indicating that post-ECT patients who say ECT helped them often have substantial cognitive impairment that they are not even aware of. The most recent study was a 2008 Duke University study that found that many of these patients even erroneously believed their cognition had improved! Not only that, only one large-scale prospective study has ever been published assessing the cognitive effects of ECT 6 months or more after a series. The study was led by the most published researcher on ECT ever, Harold Sackeim, and funded by the U.S. government. The study found that ECT "routinely" leads to global cognitive impairment. On at least 10 out of 11 tests, post-ECT patients were found to be significantly impaired. Six months after the publication of this study in 2007, a Canadian study in bipolar ECT patients revealed the same findings. The Canadian study found that post-ECT patients, years after the procedure, suffer from substantial global cognitive dysfunction. And, wait, there's more. With regard to the efficacy of ECT, most of the published reviews concluding that it's effective for depression relied on studies that were not even placebo-controlled! No joke. And guess what. The published reviews restricted to reviewing the placebo-controlled literature have concluded that the benefit of ECT over placebo ECT is not statistically significant. In other words, these reviews suggest that ECT works through a profound placebo effect. And even pro-ECT researchers admit that ECT fails to show a benefit beyond one month. Everything I'm saying is true. Visit the Wikipedia webpage on adverse effects and effectiveness for more information and studies. ECT is a huge source of income for mental hospitals. And psychiatrists in North American who give ECT on a regular basis often have salaries that are at least TWICE AS HIGH as psychiatrists who only prescribe pills. It's a money-making industry. It's not a humanitarian project.
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Dan of MI 3:20PM November 06, 2009