Brain damage claim leads to new row over electroshock therapy

One of the most dramatic techniques used in modern psychology is it. A shock is given to the brains of people who are depressed.

ECT is controversial among some psychologists and is now the focus of a huge row over claims that it can cause brain damage and that it is used disproportionately on women and the elderly.

Some psychologists and psychiatrists do not agree. They say that ECT is a useful tool for treating depressed people with suicidal urges and for those who have failed other treatments. The National Institute for Health Care and excellence in the UK and the Food and Drug Administration in the US have approved ECT as a way to induce alleviation.

Sameer Jauhar is the director of the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London. They hear voices telling them to kill themselves. They are at risk from their own actions. You can't assume that other treatments will work. ECT comes in that location.

The use of ECT peaked in the UK in the 1970s and 1980s after more than 50,000 treatments a year were administered. Reed is a critic of the use of ECT.

He said it causes brain damage. There is no ethical or scientific justification for its use until we know how much damage is done.

Supporters don't believe that it causes brain damage. They insist that memory impairment can last for months, but it's not permanent.

Both sides don't agree about the effectiveness of ECT. Opponents argue that their studies don't show that the technique works. According to Robert Howard, professor of old age Psychiatry at University College London, the studies contain major methodological flaws and are inherently biased. There is a lot of evidence that ECT works.

How does ECT work and what is it like?

There is an issue with the number of women in the room. A recent study shows they are more likely to be treated than men. This shows a bias on the part of psychologists.

Supporters say that women are more likely to be treated for depression because they are more likely to be diagnosed with the condition and are more likely to seek psychological help. More women are given ECT because they are more likely to suffer from depression.

Howard resents the implication that we are a patriarchy because we don't like women. Everyone who is suffering from a serious psychotic condition is important to us. We are able to give them treatment that can help them.

This explanation is not accepted by Read. Women are slightly more depressed than men but not as much. Older people are more depressed than women due to loss and loneliness. How can electricity address those problems?

The point is supported by other opponents. They argue that we shouldn't give electric shocks because they don't know how they affect the brain.

Howard doesn't like what he sees. Many medical procedures that are not fully understood are still used because they work. antidepressants, anti-psychotic drugs and psychological therapies haven't worked for many of my patients. ECT can change things.