The Fort Myers (FL) News-Press (8/18, Gluck) reported that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) for the treatment of severe depression “has seen a resurgence at many US health centers in recent decades, experts say.” The procedure is not without controversy. Some patients who received the procedure in the past, as well as “anti-ECT groups, say it is little more than intentional brain damage.” Other patients cannot praise the treatment enough, and the procedure is endorsed by the US Surgeon General, the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association. Researchers theorize that it works by enhancing certain beneficial brain chemicals or by “reducing ‘hyper-connectivity’ in the minds of severely depressed patients.” Most health insurers and Medicare cover ECT.
Related Links:
— “Despite controversial past, shock treatment sees resurgence, “Frank Gluck, The Fort Myers (FL) News-Press, August 18, 2013.