Popular on s4story
- People & Stories/Gente y Cuentos Announces New Board Leadership & Corporate Partnership Initiative - 129
- Mensa identifies best board games of 2025 - 125
- Electives Appoints DraftKings' CPO Linda Aiello to Board Amid Record Quarter - 102
- Is Billboard Advertising Still Effective in 2025?
- Two exciting new fantasy & adventure books are published
- Mission 3A Establishes Healthcare Advisory Board with Addition of Industry Leaders Patrick Fisher, Kevin Cordell, and Dr. Greg Berlet
- MAJOR New release of Krypto500 (ELF-HF) Sigint - COMINT software
- "The Eyes Have It" a Short Story by Philip K. Dick Now Available on Audiobook
- Fairfield Inn by Marriott Scottsdale Old Town Opens
- New Build-to-Suit VA Medical Office Facility Coming to Highland Heights, KY
Similar on s4story
- NBA Champion Lamar Odom Launches Anti-Addiction Meme Coin, Ushering in a Disruptive Innovation in Web3
- Pathways to Adulthood Conference May 17 at Melville Marriott Honoring NYS Assembly Member Jodi Giglio, Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa
- Fray Fitness Launches Memorial Day Sale and Veteran Organization Giveaway
- ImagineX, in Collaboration with Qualys, Launches New mROC Services to Transform Enterprise Cyber Risk Management
- 20 Patents Issued Worldwide, Cementing Company Leadership. First Ever Cable-Free 12-Lead ECG: HeartBeam, Inc. (Stock Symbol: BEAT)
- Congressional Men's Health Caucus Shows Bipartisan Consensus and Focus on Prevention, Mental Health, and Closing the Lifespan Gap
- DuoKey, Axiomtek and Blue Edge Network Partner to Enhance Smart Cities with Privacy-Preserving Urban Safeguarding and Fleet Management
- Austin Keen Joins WakeFX RopePal as Official Brand Ambassador
- $4.3 Million Patent Application Waiver Fee Granted by FDA on New Drug Application Fee for Treatment Addressing Suicidal Depression & PTSD: NRX Pharma
- Whistleblower Claims Dental Patient Deaths Likely Due to Book Ban
New Study Reveals Alarming Cardiac Risks Associated with Electroshock Treatment
S For Story/10638478
The mental health industry watchdog, CCHR, says informed consent is breached every time patients are not warned of the brain damage, long-term memory loss, and cardiac risks, including death, associated with electroshock, per the study.
LOS ANGELES - s4story -- A new study has determined that as many as 1 in 15 people who receive electroshock treatment face life-threatening heart problems, which can lead to death. John Read, Ph.D., a Professor of Psychology at the University College of London critiqued studies of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and cited a 2019 review that he says misrepresented data and falsely asserted that ECT is safe. In reality, cardiac events are the leading cause of death for those subjected to shock treatment.[1] The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International, a mental health industry watchdog, says this critical information must be transparently communicated to patients recommended for ECT, including the risks of permanent brain damage and memory loss. According to Dr. Read's study, "the ethical principle of informed consent is being routinely breached by ECT psychiatrists."
Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International, says that for decades there has been a cover-up of the seriousness of the effects of ECT, which sends up to 460 volts of electricity through the brain, causing a grand mal seizure. "Electroshock has no place in mental health treatment and should be banned," she said, adding, "Given without a patient's consent is internationally recognized as constituting torture."
According to U.S. expert, Ken Castleman, a biomedical engineer, "ECT stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which controls many aspects of cardiovascular function. The powerful electrical discharge causes a spike in blood pressure. The intense stress that the ECT-induced seizure places on the heart increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular events, especially in patients who have pre-existing cardiac conditions."
More on S For Story
Dr. Read reports, "The obligation to ensure informed consent is a core ethical principle of all health and mental health professionals." Yet, "Various official reports, most psychiatric textbooks, and many patient information leaflets have claimed, for decades, that the risk of death from ECT is so rare as to be inconsequential," including an American Psychiatric Association (APA) ECT Task Force Report on ECT. "It should be noted that six of the eight task force members were directors of ECT services." The group included three members who were financially involved with companies manufacturing ECT machines, Dr. Read wrote.
Citing the 2023 joint guidance by the World Health Organization/United Nations, Dr. Read continued: "People being offered ECT should be made aware of all its risks and potential short- and long-term harmful effects, such as memory loss and brain damage. ECT is not recommended for children, and this should be prohibited through legislation."
The study further discusses the death rate:
More on S For Story
In the U.S., adolescents and even children five years old and younger have been electroshocked. Dr. Read found "rates of memory deficits in more than two-thirds of child and adolescent ECT patients" that were passed off as "acceptable" and misrepresented as a "high level of safety." Dr. Read wrote to the journal stating: "The use of sufficient electricity, once, on a developing brain, in order to cause a seizure in that young brain, is a very serious matter. To do so five or six times in a few weeks is almost bound to cause brain damage in a significant number of recipients. The average age of these youngsters was just 15.5 years. Most (62 %) were girls. When even the psychiatrists themselves acknowledge that 69 % have impaired memories as a result, this does not indicate a treatment with a 'high' degree of safety."
The main cardiac events Dr. Read found are myocardial infarction (heart attack), life-threatening arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), acute pulmonary edema (fluid on the lungs), pulmonary embolism (blood clots), acute heart failure, and cardiac arrest.
In light of these grave risks, CCHR welcomes the recent news that electroshock is nearly on the brink of disappearing due to public awareness campaigns, including CCHR's documentary, Electroshock: Therapy or Torture. "It's an incredible story that goes back decades," says Harold Sackeim, a psychologist and major proponent of ECT, who is worried that exposure of ECT could be "successful at killing an industry."
Ms. Eastgate responds, "It is far better that the multi-billion-dollar electroshock industry be killed off rather than its patients. Their safety must be the priority. The current study and many others reflect the ongoing concerns that ECT should be banned."
About CCHR: Established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, CCHR has secured state bans of ECT use on minors. It also had Deep Sleep Treatment (DST), which includes ECT, banned in Australia, which last year the WHO said should be prohibited worldwide.
Source:
[1] Read, J. 2024. Major adverse cardiac events and mortality associated with electroconvulsive therapy: Correcting and updating a 2019 meta-analysis. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8xyx0
Jan Eastgate, President of CCHR International, says that for decades there has been a cover-up of the seriousness of the effects of ECT, which sends up to 460 volts of electricity through the brain, causing a grand mal seizure. "Electroshock has no place in mental health treatment and should be banned," she said, adding, "Given without a patient's consent is internationally recognized as constituting torture."
According to U.S. expert, Ken Castleman, a biomedical engineer, "ECT stimulates the sympathetic nervous system, which controls many aspects of cardiovascular function. The powerful electrical discharge causes a spike in blood pressure. The intense stress that the ECT-induced seizure places on the heart increases the risk of adverse cardiovascular events, especially in patients who have pre-existing cardiac conditions."
More on S For Story
- Aureli Construction Sets the Standard for Seamless Home Additions in Greater Boston
- Do You Know Why Nobody Sits Like the French?
- ScreenPoints Puts Film Investors in the Credits—and in the Money With New FinTech Platform
- Pathways to Adulthood Conference May 17 at Melville Marriott Honoring NYS Assembly Member Jodi Giglio, Suffolk County Legislator Nick Caracappa
- Adster Techologies awarded US Patent for breakthrough innovation in reducing latency in Ad Serving
Dr. Read reports, "The obligation to ensure informed consent is a core ethical principle of all health and mental health professionals." Yet, "Various official reports, most psychiatric textbooks, and many patient information leaflets have claimed, for decades, that the risk of death from ECT is so rare as to be inconsequential," including an American Psychiatric Association (APA) ECT Task Force Report on ECT. "It should be noted that six of the eight task force members were directors of ECT services." The group included three members who were financially involved with companies manufacturing ECT machines, Dr. Read wrote.
Citing the 2023 joint guidance by the World Health Organization/United Nations, Dr. Read continued: "People being offered ECT should be made aware of all its risks and potential short- and long-term harmful effects, such as memory loss and brain damage. ECT is not recommended for children, and this should be prohibited through legislation."
The study further discusses the death rate:
- Of 8,148 ECT recipients in Texas, seven died within 2 days of their last ECT. Even excluding the two that the researchers believed were "unlikely to have been related to ECT," this is a "rate of 1 per 1,630 people. If one includes the additional eight that died, from 'cardiac events' in the following 12 days, the rate is 1 per 627."
- A 2019 review of 43 ECT studies with mortality data, including more than 75,000 patients, calculated, "All-cause mortality was 0.42 deaths per 1,000 patients." This is 1 per 2,380 people, more than four times greater than the official position of the APA of 1 per 10,000.
- A 2023 Swedish register-based study was comprehensive in finding that of 20,225 ECT patients, 123 (0.61%) died of "medical causes" within 30 days of their last ECT—one death per 164 people. At one per 413 patients, the 49 cardiac-related deaths represented the most common medical cause of post-ECT death (40%). This was surpassed only by the 93 suicides (1 per 217). In total, 15 of the 23 patients who died within 24 hours of ECT were cardiovascular deaths.
More on S For Story
- Robert Fabbio Inducted into the Austin Technology Council Hall of Fame
- Cybersecurity is Protecting Your Personal Information and Your Portfolio
- L2 Aviation Celebrates Grand Opening of New Facility at Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG)
- Managing Summer Staffing Surges with Confidence: Why Name Badges Are a Must for Seasonal Success
- Visa Named Title Sponsor of Ascending Athletes' Business Owners Summits for NFL Entrepreneurs
In the U.S., adolescents and even children five years old and younger have been electroshocked. Dr. Read found "rates of memory deficits in more than two-thirds of child and adolescent ECT patients" that were passed off as "acceptable" and misrepresented as a "high level of safety." Dr. Read wrote to the journal stating: "The use of sufficient electricity, once, on a developing brain, in order to cause a seizure in that young brain, is a very serious matter. To do so five or six times in a few weeks is almost bound to cause brain damage in a significant number of recipients. The average age of these youngsters was just 15.5 years. Most (62 %) were girls. When even the psychiatrists themselves acknowledge that 69 % have impaired memories as a result, this does not indicate a treatment with a 'high' degree of safety."
The main cardiac events Dr. Read found are myocardial infarction (heart attack), life-threatening arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat), acute pulmonary edema (fluid on the lungs), pulmonary embolism (blood clots), acute heart failure, and cardiac arrest.
In light of these grave risks, CCHR welcomes the recent news that electroshock is nearly on the brink of disappearing due to public awareness campaigns, including CCHR's documentary, Electroshock: Therapy or Torture. "It's an incredible story that goes back decades," says Harold Sackeim, a psychologist and major proponent of ECT, who is worried that exposure of ECT could be "successful at killing an industry."
Ms. Eastgate responds, "It is far better that the multi-billion-dollar electroshock industry be killed off rather than its patients. Their safety must be the priority. The current study and many others reflect the ongoing concerns that ECT should be banned."
About CCHR: Established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas Szasz, CCHR has secured state bans of ECT use on minors. It also had Deep Sleep Treatment (DST), which includes ECT, banned in Australia, which last year the WHO said should be prohibited worldwide.
Source:
[1] Read, J. 2024. Major adverse cardiac events and mortality associated with electroconvulsive therapy: Correcting and updating a 2019 meta-analysis. Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry, repository.uel.ac.uk/item/8xyx0
Source: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
0 Comments
Latest on S For Story
- NASDAQ Uplisting for Higher Market Exposure and Wide Corporate Benefits to AI Boosted Marketing Company On Track Towards $1 Billion Revenue by 2027
- Congressional Men's Health Caucus Shows Bipartisan Consensus and Focus on Prevention, Mental Health, and Closing the Lifespan Gap
- DuoKey, Axiomtek and Blue Edge Network Partner to Enhance Smart Cities with Privacy-Preserving Urban Safeguarding and Fleet Management
- Arlina A.'s A LETTER TO PAWTONE Explores Childhood Innocence and the Moments That Shape Us
- Austin Keen Joins WakeFX RopePal as Official Brand Ambassador
- Bonelli Systems Expands Managed IT Services Nationwide, Leveraging Microsoft Azure Expertise
- $4.3 Million Patent Application Waiver Fee Granted by FDA on New Drug Application Fee for Treatment Addressing Suicidal Depression & PTSD: NRX Pharma
- Whistleblower Claims Dental Patient Deaths Likely Due to Book Ban
- xREnergy up as much as +3,094,634% on first day listed on the XRP Ledger. Ticker : $XRE
- Psychiatry's Legacy of Racism and Coercion Highlighted in Restraint Deaths
- New Book 'Cybersecurity Leadership' Guides SME Leaders to Make Smart, Strategic Security Decisions
- "Stop scrolling and start watching" - Beloved film recommendation site Criticker gets a major makeover
- Green Energy Solar Expands with New Offices in Port St. Lucie, West Palm Beach, and Orlando
- Events by Dubsdread Expands Services to The Venue at Lake Lily
- London Gala Emphasizes Trade, FDI and Ongoing Cooperation
- Walk 4 Christ: A 52-Week Journey to Transform Your Life, Body, and Faith
- Sahit Muja Launches Trillion-Dollar Green Revolution with 10 Groundbreaking Cryptos
- Free and Low-Cost Dental Care Now Available in London Through the Canadian Dental Care Plan (CDCP)
- Garden State Gay Socials Turns One: 1st Birthday Celebration for Gay Men Who Want Real Connection
- Sea Fox® 368X "Extreme Edition" by Black Label Marine Group Celebrates 5 Years of the Commander Legacy