It’s shocking!
There are lots of people who think electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) isn't used anymore.
Many people think it's a psychiatric method that's only read about in history books.
The truth however is that it's still being used in over 100 ECT clinics across the UK.
Also known as electroshock, it's been cloaked in controversy for decades.
Here in the 21st Century, ECT psychiatrists are in denial about the damage caused by their "work”.
Here's the science: when an electric current flows through the brain, the electrical energy is converted into heat, raising the temperature of the brain.
The larger the current,
the more heat is produced.
If the temperature gets too high the cells suffer temporary injury, permanent damage, or even death.
Psychiatrists however claim the ECT procedure is "new and improved”, that it's “safer”, but that's marketing hype.
The anaesthetics and paralysing agents that are used can make ECT appear less barbaric but that's only for the benefit of the person observing the procedure. For the person being shocked, there's no difference.
Despite scans taken of ECT patients showing scarring and brain shrinkage, psychiatrists are keen to deny that brain damage has been inflicted.
When shocking a person, the psychiatrist is looking to induce a seizure but it's recognised that seizure activity promotes brain damage.
With ECT, psychiatrists produce seizures in their most serious form while claiming they are therapeutic.
Psychiatrists can also claim a person needs more shock treatment to prevent relapse.
They call it maintenance, continuation or booster ECT, but when all of the psychiatric justifications are removed, it's a method, that I believe, is more likely to be found in an interrogation manual rather than a healthcare manual.
“The courage of
a nation has not failed. For there is nothing quite like
liberty.”
Brian Daniels, National Spokesperson. Citizens Commission on Human Rights (United Kingdom).