-
- ECT gives a big jolt of electricity to the
brain
-
- The first official figures for eight years on the use
of
controversial electric shock treatment show that hundreds of people
were treated against their will.
-
- The figures show 2,800 patients
received electroconvulsive
therapy (ECT) over a three month period from
January to March 1999.
-
- In total, there were approximately 16,500
administrations
of ECT during the period.
-
- There were 900 male patients
receiving treatment, compared
with 1,900 female patients.
-
- Forty-four per cnt of
female patients and 36% of male
patients receiving ECT were aged 65 and
over.
-
- A
quarter of ECT patients were formally detained under
the Mental Health
Act 1983.
-
- Of the 700 ECT patients formally detained whilst receiving
ECT
treatment, 59% did not consent to treatment.
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- First step to
reform
-
- Campaigners hope the move could mark the first step to
reform.
-
- The last Department of Health figures were issued in
1991.
-
- It
was hoped use of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT)
would continue to be
monitored through more general health statistics.
-
- But a spokeswoman said the data
was too vague so a snapshot
survey, looking at the gender, age and
possibly ethnicity of ECT patients,
was commissioned.
-
- It is unclear whether
this will become a regular survey.
-
- The government figures come
after much lobbying by campaigners.
Last year a 10-minute rule bill by
MP John Gunnell which called for restrictions
on ECT use was talked
out.
-
- No consent
-
- Mental health campaigners hope it will be the first step
towards an end to the use of ECT without consent and a ban on its use for
people under 16.
-
- Charity Mind estimates about 20,000 people a year receive
ECT
in England and Wales.
-
- Around 2,000 are given the treatment without their
consent
after they have been forcibly committed to hospital.
-
- Mind says some are
given it even though they have had
bad experiences in the past and say
they do not want it.
-
- Opinions on the effectiveness of ECT vary among both
experts and patients. Some believe it is barbaric and destroys the brain
while others say it can help up to 80% of patients who are on the point
of crisis.
-
- The process, which has been used for more than 60 years,
involves giving an electric shock to the brain. Techniques have been
refined
in recent years to make the practice safer.
-
- Mind says no-one
really knows how it works and what its
long-term effects are.
-
- A spokeswoman said:
"It is so risky and severe.
The side effects can be very severe,
including short- or long-term memory
loss, coma and possibly
death."
-
- Older women
-
- Mind believes older women are
more likely to be given
the treatment repeatedly than others.
-
- "Part of the
reason may be that they are slightly
more likely to suffer from severe
depression than men, but that cannot
be the whole explanation,"
said the spokeswoman.
-
- Mind hopes the Department of Health figures will open
the way for an independent audit of ECT, as occurs in Scotland.
-
- The Royal College of
Psychiatrists has expressed concern
about the way the treatment is
administered.
-
- In a recent report, it said ECT was often administered
by
poorly trained junior doctors, who may be left unsupervised with
out-of-date
equipment.
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