Electro-convulsive therapy: it works for me
Sydney Morning Herald
Tuesday June 9, 2009
Rarely have I been so disappointed with the tone and content of a news item as I was with the reporting on electro-convulsive therapy in NSW hospitals ("Shock therapy forced on patients", June 6-7). The story reinforces concerns about the misuse of ECT in the past and in repressive regimes, and its influential misrepresentation in popular culture, particularly the enduring impact of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.For five years I have had treatment at public and private facilities where ECT was offered after the failure or minimal impact of alternative treatments. After some initial nervousness, I have done so with little or no concern or reluctance. Were I to be so incapacitated as to require involuntary treatment, I would not object.Undeniably ECT is not without risk and cost. Arguably the former is attached to any hospital procedure, from anaesthesia through to surgery. Short-term costs, particularly in relation to memory and concentration, should be weighed against the debilitating and disabling effects of severe mental illness.There can be a significant gap between the attitude of mental health specialists and the concerns and fears of patients about ECT. Psychiatrists may not fully appreciate the trepidation experienced by patients with little or no knowledge of the procedure other than that depicted in popular culture. Patients' concerns and nervousness are not necessarily a rejection of ECT. But they need to be satisfactorily addressed in obtaining informed consent.With involuntary treatment, those concerns are understandably shared by the patient's family; more so perhaps, in coming to terms with a decision for the treatment of another, without the direct experience of the mental illness he or she endures.I am troubled by the effect of such coverage on the public's understanding of severe mental illness and options for its treatment. There are enough serious issues elsewhere associated with the management of mental health that undermining confidence in ECT is regrettable.Stephen Murray Campbelltown
© 2009 Sydney Morning Herald
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