From the Editor
If you were ill with depression, would you consider electroconvulsive therapy? What if you had a manic episode?
In April 1938, the first treatment of ECT was administered in Rome. Now, 82 years later, ECT continues to be used. But, as Dr. David Goldbloom (of CAMH) notes: “ECT has the unusual status of being one of the most vilified and validated treatments in all of psychiatry and indeed in all of medicine.” The treatment has fallen out of favour, and is not even offered in certain centres.
But would you consider ECT?
In the first selection, we look at a new paper from Psychiatric Services. Dr. Rebecca E. Barchas, a retired psychiatrist, discusses her experiences with ECT – as a patient, not as a physician. She notes the depths of her depression and the decision to receive ECT, which she didn’t know much about despite many years of practice. “If reading these thoughts can help even one more patient who needs ECT accept it or help one more physician to consider recommending it when appropriate, I will have accomplished my goal of helping to destigmatize ECT.”
ECT at 82: Still relevant?
In the second selection, we consider a narrative review from The American Journal of Psychiatry. ECT for patients experiencing manic episodes is used less and less often; in several recent surveys, no patient with mania received ECT. But what’s the evidence? Dr. Alby Elias (of the University of Melbourne) and his co-authors review decades’ worth of literature, from RCTs to retrospective studies, finding the treatment is safe and effective. But is it relevant in an era of pharmacology?
DG
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