Electroshock therapy or Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in patients to provide relief from psychiatric illnesses. In 2011, it was estimated that about 100,000 people in the United States receive ECT treatment each year.
Over the years, ECT has generated a lot of controversy in the United States, especially regarding the device used in conducting the therapy. Critics have questioned the safety of the electric device used in the process.
To make matters worse, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has downgraded ECT devices from Class III to Class II. This means that their uses are now much less regulated. Critics of ECT have blamed the passing of the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 6) which “relaxes scientific standards, virtually guaranteeing insufficiently tested drugs will hit the market only to be recalled after the damage is done.”
In all these criticisms against ECT, Your Wire News reports that the FDA is busily making plans to introduce ETC as a viable psychiatric treatment, making it easier for doctors to prescribe its use on patients suffering from conditions such as depression and anxiety. This will include teenagers.
According to anonymous source within the FDA, officials of the organization are proposing to change the classification of ECT devices for use in treating severe major depressive episode (MDE) associated with major depressive disorder (MDD), or bipolar disorder (BPD), in patients 18 years of age and older, who are treatment-resistant or who require a rapid response, due to the severity of their psychiatric or medical condition.
Meanwhile, authorities in the United States are currently pushing for a mandatory mental health screening for all American teenagers. Many observers therefore suspect that teenagers in America will be subjected to a routine ECT in the near future. The plans of subjecting teenagers to ECT are believed to have been considered in late 2015.
In January 2016, a critic of ECT, CCHRI said in an article that the proposed rule change by the FDA, means officials are sought to make the change “despite the federal agency’s admission that the ECT device has not been proven safe and effective.”
According to the FDA, about 5 million Americans have been treated with ECT devices. But critics have said despite the number of people who have gone through the ECT process, none of the ECT device manufacturers have ever submitted clinical trial evidence of their effectiveness, supporting their position that their devices are safety for the public.
Even the FDA itself, has listed 14 health risks that are associated with ECT devices. The more serious complications and side effects include:
- Death, which could occur due to reactions to anesthesia; cardiovascular complications, pulmonary complications, or stroke;
- Cardiovascular complications from convulsion-induced arrhythmias (irregular, and sometimes dangerous, heartbeat patterns), or from a heart attack or hypertension;
- Memory and cognition can be impaired or destroyed, specifically immediate post-treatment disorientation, anterograde memory impairment and retrograde personal (autobiographical) memory impairment;
- Device malfunctions;
- Physical trauma;
- A worsening of psychiatric conditions.
We are following the story closely. We will report on the latest as soon as our intelligence team picks something new from the ground. Just stay with Us. Expect Us!
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