Doctors of deception

This superb study documents a development that is an ongoing controversy in the field of psychiatry: electro convulsive therapy (ECT) and the appropriateness of using it to treat a host of conditions such as depression and anxiety. Looking at neurophysiological effects, Andre (director, Committee for Truth in Psychiatry, an organization for ECT survivors) makes a strong case that ECT, like traumatic brain injury, produces significant brain damage resulting in memory loss, cognitive deficits, and difficulties with everyday tasks (e.g., making change, calculation). The author argues that the psychiatric establishment (including makers of devices working hand in hand with regulatory agencies, in defiance of conflict-of-interest statutes) has refused to consider the possibility of any loss accruing from ECT. Indeed, in contradiction to scientific evidence (which has been suppressed), ECT adherents and practitioners claim that it promotes neural development, and they have made efforts to prove that underlying depression, not ECT, causes morphological changes in the brain. Weaving her own, often poignant, experiences with ECT into the narrative, Andre contends that ECT proponents/practitioners undercut informed consent through systemic deceit, including failure to reveal negative consequences. The audience for this excellent resource should include those who make mental health policy. D.J. Winchester Yeshiva University.