Puff piece in the NYT about ECT
Fawning article today in the NYT about how great ECT is. The piece completely downplays the negatives. Normally, I’d offer a point-by-point refutation, but I’m planning to do a video this week about my own experience, which should offer some evidence of the problematic nature of the treatment. I did the whole video yesterday, but the sound got erased, despite the fact that I spent the entire day trying to retrieve it. I guess I have to start over again today, but we’re on deadline, and I have a doctor’s appt., and yadda yadda. I hope to have it up by tomorrow.
I’ve been in and out of touch with Juli Lawrence for years. Her website ECT.org is an excellent resource. If you’re at all interested in the subject do some looking around there. It provides a much-needed foil to pieces like the below. Also, keep in mind, the person who gets ECT has to wear a bite guard to protect him or her from the convulsions. You can buy one here!
Shock Therapy Loses Some of Its Shock Value
liz | 10:33 AM | Uncategorized
Hi, Liz. Spot on. The New York Times article is a total puff piece all the way. It looks like it was written by Kitty Dukakis’ publicist, and no doubt the piece had its origins in a conversation with the publicist.
I have encountered plenty of people who owe their lives to ECT, but I have also encountered those with bad experiences. To wax eloquent about the benefits without mentioning the risks of memory loss is irresponsible journalism.
When I was at the Mayo Clinic, I was greatly ‘encouraged’ to have ECT. Mayo doesn’t provide long time care, but they said if started ECT, I could stay on the ward for several more weeks. About half the patients there were receiving treatments. I went there hoping for state of the art, but that was all that they could offer me. At twenty-seven and a lawyer, though, even with my ‘intractable’ depression, it didn’t seem like a risk I could afford to take. Or that I was willing to, as long as I still days I was able to go on living. I watched my mom go through ECT more than a decade ago. I didn’t think it was a good idea before she did it and thought it was an even worse idea once she finished. She lost part of herself.
Nonetheless, in different circumstances, I wouldn’t have had the strength (which was at an all time low for me as it was) to have refused. It did excellent things for one my friends there. She left the hospital no longer suicidal, able to imagine a future again. Yet once home, I had to be one to call her. When she picked up the phone, she no longer remembered how to dial it.
Thanks for NYT link. I’m with Hemingway here: “what is the sense of ruining my head and erasing my memory, which is my capital, and putting me out of business? It was a brilliant cure, but we lost the patient.”
NAMI’s take on “Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy” at:
http://www.nami.org/Template.cfm?Section=20065&Template=/ContentManagement/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=38526
Hey Liz, thanks for the kind comments! I didn’t know you had this blog…now I’m off to add it to my site.
You rock!
Juli
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