Psychiatry's 'Shock Doctrine': Are We Really OK With Electroshocking Toddlers?

will protect me from the helpers?

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Psychiatry nazi, needs to strap it on them and turn the whole switch on themselves.

Children shouldnt be treated like this, it is a form of child abuse and children are not the issues of their problems. The problems are the doctors using children as lab rats.

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So much for the precautionary principle and the Hippocratic Oath. The latter urges doctors to "do no harm," but the former is probably more important to scientific endeavors and applications. Until you are sure that the benefits outweigh the harm, you shouldn't proceed with a particular practice.

Of course, certain practices and ideas lend themselves to debate, e.g., nuclear power: it might (in the short run) solve some of our energy woes, but it generates toxic waste that has to be stored for a long time. The precautionary principle, which just strikes me as good common sense (and yet still seems to require explanation....WHY is beyond me.) should lead people to conclude that until we can find a way to reduce or eliminate the "waste," we shouldn't generate it.

The same goes for using electroconvulsive therapy on anyone, especially children, whose minds are still developing. The so-called "experts" and psychiatrists are blundering about in the dark here and have about as much understanding of the consequences of their acts as they do of black holes in space----and probably even less than that.

Of course, it doesn't help when lay people reflexively defer to the "experts" and the "professionals," assuming that they have somehow got it all "worked out" with a complete understanding of what they're doing.

Fortunately, there are some honest men and women who are paying close attention to what's being done, but for some people (and in Australia, that includes kids, apparently) it may come too late to prevent serious damage.

It isn't just great writers like Hemingway who need access to their memory; most of us would feel lost without it.

This practice definitely belongs in the annals of medical malpractice and applied ignorance, along with the bleeding of people with leeches to cure them of their "humors."

So typical of authoritarian types to torture people (especially kids) "for their own good."

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As an Australian psychologist I am ashamed that this treatment is meted out to anybody let alone children.

We are constantly told that medical treatments are "evidence based" and that the procedures are subjected to rigorous testing. As a paramedical practitioner (and an alternative prActitioner as a massage therapist) I know that many practices carried out by the medical profession are not based on scientific principles or an understanding of the modes of action.

This particularly true of the treatment of mental conditions. Patients are continually lied to about the actions and need for psychotropic medication, the mode of action of these drugs and their effectiveness.

The truth is that we simply do not know enough about the brain to drug it, to do psychosurgery or to electrocute it. Anyone who claims to know differently is deluded or is lying.

More dangerously the individuals who advocate these treatments and apply them are abusing the power which has been given to them as supposedly disinterested and professional clinicians.

Neurologists and psychiatrists who do anything to interfere with a brain surgically, electrically or by the use of brain damaging drugs should be charged with assault. It is self-serving, and absolutely dishonest, of them to claim that what they are doing is best practice. It is a number of their colleagues who are supporting these abominable brain-damaging 'treatments'.

The only justification for brain surgery or the use of electrical methods in the brain are for the treatment of specific, well-understood physiological or cancerous conditions.

Dr Mengele would be proud of these people who have lost sight of the reasons why they are entrusted with the power of making clinical decisions.

If electroconvulsive therapy is so safe then I suggest that every medico who uses it should be subjected to the treatment once a week for a month or two themselves. After all is not the treatment meant to 'cure' delusions and in some way treat a loss of contact with reality? Those conditions describe exactly what has happened to some elements of the medical profession.

Shock them then we would hear a different story.

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I was the youngest of 5 (by 8 years) and spent a great deal of my Childhood visiting My Father, Brother and Sister in Mental Hospitals. I am convinced that all their problems were caused by indoctrination by the Roman Catholic Church.

My father was educated in a Priest's Training College. He completely hated boarding school and couldn't wait to escape. He didn't want to be a priest but an Engineer and he became an extremely good engineer.

However he had a sexual history before he met my Mother, and as a result had enormous guilt.

He was completely convinced that when he died he would go to hell for all eternity and that there could be no forgiveness and no escape.

Imagine the worst kind of torture that doesn't just go on for minutes, nor days, nor months, nor years - but actually goes on forever and ever and ever.

When I was a child he was exceedingly depressed and withdrawn for very long periods with the depression tipping him into a state of complete non-functionality requiring hospitalisation.

He would have been on anti-depressent drugs for most of this period - but after more than 10 years of this - he made an extremely determined attempt at suicide and was only saved by the tremendous courage of someone who witnessed it and risked his own life to save him.

My father then received ECT. The effect was almost immediate and miraculous. All his sins had been deleted from his memory.

Yet he didn't turn into a zombie. He returned to lead a completely normal outgoing life and continued working as an engineer for another 10 years in complete good health until the age of 72 when he retired.

Personally, I thought ECT had been banned over 30 years ago. I think it is completely barbaric and totally inappropriate as a treatment for mental illness.

However there may well be some extreme cases such as my Father when after over 10 years of failure at all other kinds of treatment, there maybe a slim chance that it might work.

Using ECT on Children is completely insane.

However, I think I could construct a case for its use on the most EVIL Religious indoctrinators who preach hell fire and damnation - as well as many psychiatrists and politicians.

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I like Alternet's political and social coverage, but they are very biased and unreliable when it comes to matters of health care. Someone at the top of the hierarchy at Alternet clearly has an agenda and an ax to grind, or money to make, by pushing these anti-establishment ideas, at least as far as health care goes.

Anyone who bothers to actually research the facts about ECT will see that, while it does have certain potential drawbacks, it can be a lifesaving treatment for those with refractory depression. It was used long before there was Prozac and all the other "feel good" drugs used today were ever around, and has a huge volume of data and research associated with it. To point at any one patient, or a group of anonymous patients (such as the kids in Australia), and just dismiss it out of hand is plain wrong. You need to know the specifics of who, exactly, was given ECT, and for what purpose. These may have been kids in institutions with comorbid problems, whose depression was life-threatening. You just don't know.

If individual doctors are misusing ECT, then they should be sued/sanctioned. But as usual, the truth is not as simple as Alternet wants us to believe. The reason ECT is still allowed and paid for by Medicare and insurance companies is because over eighty years, it has been proven to be effective in refractory depression. Many patients credit it with saving their lives.

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I am a nurse working with a population of chronic, refractory scizophrenics. Some of my clients require ECT. These are not just people "having a bad day." These are not people who just need a hug or just need someone to talk to. These are people with voices in their heads screaming at them or commanding them to do terrible things. These are people who can lapse into catatonia without treatment. These are people who beleive their families are imposters and are posing their food. I have personally seen the effects it has and they are generally positive.

There is an order to investigating new treatments in psychiatry just as in any medical pursuit. Psychiatrists begin with small doses of well known medication (ei haldol, olanzpine) and work from there based on the clinical outcome. If nothing is effective we might move to Clozapine, a dangerous but very effective medication. ECT is used in extreme cases involving problematic symptoms that will not respond to psychopharmacology. Ect may also be used to control symptoms od clients with extremely sensitivity to neuroleptic medications.

Where I am (Toronto), deliverying ECT involves a battery of pre tests, an anesthisia consult and a complex legal procedure. ECT is generally delivered acutely, three times per week, for up to 15 sessions. The client is assessed throughout the process and ECT is terminated if there is no positive effects or any dangerous side effects. Each session is performed under general anathesia with an anethisiologist, a psychiatrist and four nursing staff present. The process takes about ten minuted with another 20 minusts to recover form anasthesia. Some clients will continue on weekly maintenenxce sessions for years.

Yes, there are endless abuses in the treatment of mental health. There are also facts. There is also science. These experiences are rarely great for the client. There is a lot of misery involved in this illness and its treatment. However, basing your ideas on decades old hollywood cliches about mental illness is not helpful. Theses cases do not often have a happy ending. What the mentally ill need is access to proper treatment and programmes to education the public about the realities of these illnesses and stigma that generate.

chris in toronto

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It is easy to rail against the barbaric ECT practices of fifty or thirty years ago, but this is a straw man since ECT as currently practiced bears no resemblance to those older practices. Do some research and you will discover that ECT today is a much more humane ane EFFECTIVE treatment for certain kinds of depression and certain populations of depressed persons. For instance, ECT is considered the single most effective treatment for persons who in extremis in their depression are actively suicidal - talk therapy and medication therapy simply take too long in these cases. Once the suicidality is put at bay, then the therapy and medication options are appropriate. Furthermore it is often a first line of treatment for suicidally depressed pregnant women who should not be given psychotropic medications due to unknown effects of such on developing fetuses. Moreover, many clinical studes validate the efficacy of ECT over psychotropic or psychotherapy treatments for geriatric populations.

Having said all that, I am surprised that this treatment has been done on very young children and know of no research that incontrovertibly
shows that the benefits outweigh the possible costs (although there are decent studies on isolated cases). I suspect that ECT is used cautiously, and in those cases of extreme unresponsive depression, such as catatonic depression.

The effects on the developing young brain/mind are very difficult to assess or anticipate and it may indeed be the case that ECT for such younger kids is contra-indicated.

ECT administration these days is very compassionately delivered. Subjects' skeletal muscles are completely relaxed, and the minimal effective dosage of ECT delivered in the most research-validated way, usually unilateral administration on one side of the brain. The "seizures" then affect only the brain.

It is true that no one really knows how ECT works when it does work; there is a crude analogy that ECT is like "rebooting a computer" -- brains in this case. It is thought that the seizures help to re-establish the balance of neurotransmitters. But then again, no one really knew how aspirin works until the 1970s, even though it was used for more than half a century before its biochemical action was discovered.

There is a lot of research that shows that ECT followed by a certain medication regimen is very effective.

In my own experience, the most troublesome aspects of ECT was/is selective memory loss, which continues today, over 8 years out of my ECT. But it is a price I am glad to pay since my depression is controlled and my life is on track.

So, if you haven't done any research in ECT, and you haven't undergone it or don't know someone whose life was saved by it, you should probably hold at bay your righteous indignation and keep an open mind.

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Had a relative with bipolar syndrome and suicidal depressions, who received incredible amounts of ECT in the late 1950's and early 60's. Late in her 40's, she was admitted to yet another hospital. This one decided to run a glucose tolerance test, and she was rediagnosed, with severe hypoglycemia instead of bipolar disorder. She was put on a strict diet, had no further problems, and her life was totally turned around as long as she stayed on the diet.

Note that no compensation exists for deleting huge portions of the mind's function due to a lack of diagnostic skills.

So--now we will have yet another generation of young'uns with impaired cognitive skills, this time via MDeity instead of meth and crack.

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Twelve courses of ECT.

http://tinyurl.com/5zy38x

I have a distinct feeling that we hear far more of the success stories and far less of the failures because, well, it's a business, after all.

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Hey, maybe corporate funded education is really on to something truly beneficial to them. Perhaps inducing "shock-therapy" in some form on the young will get them motivated to more quickly become the robot citizen soldier gloriously sang about at the movies and on TV...? And with "shock-therapy" they will be so dumb-down they won't know they are getting screwed by that 1% said to own and control our economy. Hey, in my State - Arizona - our newest state budget cuts to the bone funding for education,the poor and health, so I guess we really can't afford the electricity to just shock the hell out of them...?

I do invite you to look at my blog
http://waterman99.wordpress.com/2009

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If we're going to use electro-shock to 'correct' our kids psyche then I believe we're getting after the wrong problem thinkers.

I think electro-shock applied to the gemitals of CEO's, CfO's, Wall Streeters and bullshit politicians would be a step in the right direction.

Since this is a recgonized medical procedure, I'm not asking for anything that might be considered a 'threat' I'm only saying these people might benefit from this medical procedure, With an Rx of four times a day until they become Human again.

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I think it is a shame that our lives in such a polluted toxic world have been reduced to such barbaric and outdated procedures that cannot be reversed.

If the psychiatrists endorsing these procedures had APPROPRIATE and COMPREHENSIVE training of the human body, I think they just might realize there is more to the picture than what their egos believe.

It is my belief that the MAJORITY of people suffering mental illness are truly suffering from some form of toxic poisoning and/or genetic mutation from our extremely toxic environment. Working with a trained Osteopath should be the first line of treatment, not ECT. They can look at the cellular level of functioning in the body, toxic body burden, vitamin deficiencies, metabolic functioning, etc. and prescribe treatment plans based on KNOWN AND PROVEN areas of need.

ECT needs to be prohibited since there are no studies that can prove that it's benefits outweigh the risks and lifelong brain injuries.

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If one searches Mr. Levine’s articles at AlterNet, 15 titles pop up, most dealing with psychiatric illness, adverse effects drug treatment, and the pernicious influences of PHARMA. There is no evidence in any of Mr. Levine’s articles that he has grasped the variety of psychiatric illness and how some may blend into each other. Certainly in a previous AlterNet article he has displayed an inability to understand the spectrum of depressive illness.

This article starts out with an Australian news article describing ECT therapy in children, selectively quotes ages and incidence, but fails to report on diagnoses, indication, or outcome. As is his want, what a discerning reader would consider a bare minimum, a link to his data sources is lacking. What we do get is polemics on ECT. Thus, it is not unexpected that we find these types of statements:

“Many Americans think that ECT has gone the way of bloodletting, but it continues to be regarded by American psychiatry as a respected treatment, especially for patients who are "treatment resistant" to drugs.”

“Breggin's "brain-disabling principle" is that even when ECT does "work," it works only temporarily -- the same way that a blow by a sledgehammer or an acid trip might temporarily disconnect one from the reality of one's life and the sources of one's emotional pain.”

“Psychiatry will always find celebrities who swear by ECT, but the American public rarely hears about those celebrities who have cursed their ECT.”

My background is in Endocrinology and Metabolism, and I have spent 15 years in Geriatrics, 12 of those as full time Medical Director of two different Geriatric facilities. Any medical condition faces a certain percentage of mis-diagnosis, treatment failures, and treatment complications. Depressive illnesses are not are not excluded from this triad, nor is the use of ECT.

Any doc worth his or her salt will tell you that depression, especially when mixed in with other conditions (Parkinson’s disease, Bi-Polar states, brain vascular disease) may be difficult to diagnose, and devilish difficult to treat. Within the armamentarium available to a physician, ECT is an important and effective weapon in attempting to treat an unremitting depression.

My advise to AlterNet: If you wish to have a section on “Health and Wellness” find an author willing to link to primary sources, show some empathy to those individuals who may be afflicted with illness, and who is willing to present both sides of a controversy.

In this setting, the bare minimum would be the fact that in certain situations ECT may prove life saving, in others a significant element in a treatment plan the enhances quality of life, and certainly one that may lead to the resumption of normal life. Mr. Levine has done us all a disservice with this article.

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Without the side effects of crude and harsh ECT. This was discovered by accident when patients undergoing MRI scans for other medical problems were incidentally cured of their depression.

I will try to post link below, otherwise article can be accessed by copying the following link:
http://www.radiologytoday.net/archive
/rt_062705p22.shtml

Click for link here

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for opposing the more barbaric medical practices of psychiatry. The ethical test for any practitioner should be "Would I subject myself to this practice I am about to do to someone else?" I don't think a lot of psychiatrists would willingly undergo an ECT treatment. I had a friend in high school who had only one and said he never wanted another. Not a real good recommendation for a "treatment."

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The story is harrowing; the thought of ECT-ing chidren is really appalling, but let me contribute my experience.

When I was an unruly adolesecent, my behavior was so outrageous that medical professionals (and my poor parents) thought I must be mentally ill. Consequently, I received a significant part of the medical treatments possible at that time. Esssentially, drugs, & ECT.

My experience of that treatment was not significantly damaging; but while having a very clear memory back to age 1.5 years (i.e. a very good memory), there are certain aspects / times of my life where the memory is just wiped. In discussion with a friend, who is a pyschiatric nurse, I expressed my horror that this trchnique was still in use; he countered that he, from his experience, could say that it helped some people. (The context of our discussion was that another ECT story was covered on alternet about 8 months ago)

He continued to say that in his depression, (he had been in a high stress position, had received insufficient support, and it had 'got' to him eventually), he found these treatments useful, to stabilise his position.

It seems to me to follow, that while it is barbarous to use these treatments on people, and especially children, the state of psychriatry has hardly changed over the past 30 years, largely due to investment decisions. That no money was devoted to this area of study. The inevitable consequence is that short cuts will be used, until resources are given to the problem.

It also seems to me, that the state of awareness of 'consciousness', which at that time (1972) was mired in a load of wordy nonsense of pretend philosophy, was greatly advanced by the experience of electronics, both analogue and digital, which experience, of division into small component parts of machines that eventually become very powerful and perhaps even sentient machines.

I recall having a conversation with a medico friend around this subject; he dismissed (at that time, 1992) the thought that we could every reach the processing power of even a scorpion.

It is all beginning to look a bit different.

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An 11-year-old girl was medically evacuated from a provincial town to a tertiary child psychiatric inpatient unit after 3 days of unusual behaviour. She had no past medical or psychiatric history.

Three nights prior to presentation at her local hospital she ran through the house turning on all the lights. She experienced nihilistic auditory hallucinations about the world ending and feared for the safety of her family. On one occasion she commented that her mother was dead.

At the provincial hospital's emergency department she reported experiencing command hallucinations to kill people. For 3 days she refused all fluids and food intake for fear of poisoning by staff.

She was treated with i.v. haloperidol 0.5 mg as needed (PRN) and received 2 mg in total over 90 min. She developed dystonic reactions at this dosage. She subsequently received i.m. olanzapine 2.5 mg up to a total of 30 mg over 2 days. She also received i.v. midazolam 2.5 mg interspersed with haloperidol and olanzapine with little effect. This regimen of medication offered brief respite from her agitation. She required 3-4 members of staff to continuously restrain her to prevent injury or escape.

Computed tomography brain scan was found to be normal. Due to the urgency of the presentation she was medically evacuated by aeroplane under midazolam infusion to a tertiary paediatric teaching hospital.

The patient's mother reported that the girl had been uncharacteristically oppositional and defiant in the preceding weeks and she became increasingly withdrawn from her peers. For 2 days prior to her hospitalization she had shown strange facial grimacing and assumed bizarre postures. She also had increased motor activity. When she was not posturing she would throw herself onto the ground.

The only identifiable stressor was parental separation 4 months previously. Her father's departure had caused the patient significant grief. One month after the separation the patient's sleep deteriorated. Despite not sleeping well she continued to be involved in multiple sporting activities.

Premorbidly, the patient was a talented athlete. She was a high achiever at school and socialized well with peers.

There was a family history of mental illness: her paternal grandmother had schizophrenia and her maternal grandmother and maternal uncle had bipolar disorder. Her father had a history of alcohol abuse and depression.

On presentation to the paediatric hospital the patient was disorientated. At one stage she did not recognize her mother. She was admitted to the child psychiatry unit. She presented with the catatonic symptoms of extreme negativism, excessive motor activities and verbigeration. The patient initially refused to eat or drink although she did manage minimal fluid and food intake 2 days into her admission. She refused oral medication.

Investigations were undertaken to exclude organic causes. Magnetic resonance imaging showed no abnormality. Lumbar puncture was unremarkable. Serology for cytomegalovirus and Epstein-Barr virus showed past exposure. Hepatitis B and C, Herpes simplex virus 1 and 2, parvo virus, Toxoplasmosis gondii and syphilis serology were negative. Human chorionic gonadotropin was also negative. Plasma amino acids level was normal. Lead and mercury levels were normal. There was no evidence of illicit drugs on urine screen and no urinary tract infection. Thyroid function, liver function and electrolytes, glucose and renal function were normal.

The patient was treated with i.m. olanzapine up to 10 mg day-1 for 5 days with no response. The olanzapine was increased to 20 mg day-1 with little effect. Diazepam 15 mg day-1 was added to the olanzapine for sedation and the patient's confusion, disorientation and agitation worsened.

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This article isn't about toddlers.

It's about desperate measures after serious and very time and money consuming efforts by a large team of doctors.

Back off, Levine.

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If 'Dr.' Levine had some direct experience or even medical training, perhaps his article would have some credibility.

Psychiatrists, who are MEDICAL DOCTORS and not Phd psychologists with minimal, if any, medical training, have written countless journal articles and have discussed ECT at countless meetings for decades.

ECT is an end of the line treatment modality for the most severe cases of psychotic, suicidal depression. No MD psychiatrist or MD anesthesiologist ( who put the patient out during the treatment ) takes the decision to proceed casually. It may mean life or death for the patient.

The article is an insult to physicians.

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Correspondent Photon’s feather was kind enough to point out to me that the appellation of “Mr.” to Bruce E Levine is incorrect, as the author of this posting has a Doctorate (PhD) in Clinical Psychology.

Perhaps I was too harsh in my original posting on this thread, so it was off to Google, maybe we could find this gentlemen’s Curriculum Vitae. Not much luck, but a web site was identified. Apparently two books have been written, and under “Recent Articles and Interviews” we find a ton of “stuff” at the Huffington Post, Z Magazine and of course AlterNet.

What you will not find is an article in a recognized mental health journal. You will also not find the bare minimum, the school that granted the PhD in Clinical Psychology or the title of thesis that is necessary for such a degree.

Off to Wikipedia, not quite a scholars abode, but hey mon, it is 11:00 PM Eastern time. Again, there is no mention of the University that granted the degree in Clinical Psychology or an outline of his clinical training. The Wiki posting is short, but this is of interest:

Levine is also the author of Commonsense Rebellion: Taking Back Your Life from Drugs, Shrinks, Corporations and a World Gone Crazy (New York-London: Continuum, 2003), a protest book. The 26 alphabetically ordered chapters of Commonsense Rebellion detail Levine's contention that the high national rates of mental illness in the United States are really just natural reactions (e.g., discontent and disconnectedness) to the oppression of what he terms an "institutional society," which he argues causes many to break down psychologically. An earlier edition was released in 2001 with the subtitle Debunking Psychiatry, Confronting Society — An A to Z Guide to Rehumanizing Our Lives.

Two other points: The Wiki article implies that Dr. Levine is part of the anti-psychiatry movement, and an elegant link explores the tenants of this movement. A book review by Mel Starkman of Dr. Levine’s book A review of Commonsense Rebellion, Debunking Psychiatry, Confronting Society: An A to Z Guide to rehumanizing Our lives leaves no doubt that Dr. Levine’s antipathy towards established psychiatric care.

That I grievously sinned in my original post in this thread by not exploring Bruce E Levine PhD’s background is apparent. I will therefore correct my closing statement, which read: ”. Mr. Levine has done us all a disservice with this article”. to stating that AlterNet’s Editorial Board should carefully review their favorite Clinical Psychologists anti scientific rantings. The degree of miss-information in this post, and others, do not engender confidence in AlterNet other articles.

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In the early seventies the medical establishment claimed that ECT was a cure for the symptoms of autism ( ticking, rocking etc. ). After being convinced I would be normalised by a series of electric shocks my parents enthusiastically signed me up for the treatment. After the full round of ECT I was utterly lost for about two years. I don't recall much of that time. I'm told I was a mindless zombie.
And guess what- thirty years on I'm still a ticking, stuttering autistic.

I met a psychiatrist recently who assured me that autism can be turned around through ECT. He told me that in the U.S. there is a growing movement advocating the use of ECT for young children who present as autistic. He insisted that the basis of autism is an inability to CONFORM. ECT, in his opinion, encourages recovery from autistic symptoms by bringing about conditions conducive to conformity.
What a load of bollocks. Isn't this just an echo of Eugenics? What price conformity?
When will these quacks be brought to account for profiteering from the suffering of others?

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Ban ECT for everyone! I've never heard of it being used on little kids, but it sounds like those lobotomies they used to do with ice picks. I used to be a pretty smart person with a graduate degree, a responsible job and chronic depression. I took every drug and combination in the book, then I had ECT. After I was ECTed, I couldn't do my work and I was finally forced to go out on disability. A lot of my memory, my concentration and my capacity for logical thought are gone. ECT is brutal and inhumane, and doesn't work! Children haven't even formed memories, concentration and logic. What will it do to them?

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A little arsenec will not kill you.

A little electrical shock will not kill you.


A better success rate for serious mental patients have been reported in Canada by Dr. Abram Hoffer with vitamin and niacin therapy.

We are what we eat.

Patrick McGean

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Do no harm my ass. Doctors are employed by Big Pharma and the Med Device industry. They kill, mame and harm people every day. And they wonder why they get sued. They have no integrity, no morals or ethics and no understanding of health or healing. They are motivated by one thing...$$$$$$. Therefore...SUE A DOCTOR.

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This tops it all. I have been writing for many years about issues just like this and I have come to this conclusion. No one reads this stuff. We read the information and no one cares what we write. Its like the guy that knew where the little girl was but because he was a sex offender no one would listen cause he was blaming a cop for her disappearance. Congress and law makers have their businesses to look out for not people.

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Psychiatry... practiced by ghouls on the uneducated and misinformed...

head medicine...
ummm lets see if this drug helps...
it does...
oh nice, but thats a nasty side effect...death...

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I was 17 years old when I was forced to have ECT in 1973 at the Brockville Psychiatric Hospital. On my 5th ECT my heart stopped and I had to be revived.

I suffer from permanent memory loss and have difficulty with learning new things.

Shocking kids is not ok - shocking anyone for that matter is not ok no matter how old they are young or old.

Dr. Harold Sackeim did a study on ECT recently and the study determined that electroshock (ECT) always causes brain damage 100% of the time. See breggin.com and see the blog and news section.

I am the director of the International Campaign to Ban Electroshock (ICBE) based in Ottawa, Canada. The ICBE website URL is:
intcamp.wordpress.com

The ICBE deems ECT to be barbaric, unethical and a crime against humanity. The ICBE is working with others to help ban ECT universally.

The ECT machines are not safe also. See ect.org and see the article
ECT machine lawsuit.

100,00 Americans get ECT yearly
1 to 2 million people worldwide get ECT yearly

Regards,

Sue Clark-Wittenberg
director ICBE
Ottawa, Canada
2005.sueclark@gmail.com

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