Is Electro-Convulsive Therapy (ECT) safe?

reply to post by VneZonyDostupa


5150's written by MD are ONLY valid in the county they are filled out in and the patient cannot be moved from said county. If a peace officer fills it out its good in any county thus allowing the patient to be transported to any avalible psych facility.

reply to post by FredT


Hm, like I said, I'm not sure the "peace officer" bit applies in Tennessee. I tried looking up state law on involuntary admission, and the only clauses I saw were related to being held, under doctor's order, for self-harm or violence.

Of course, I may very well be wrong. Most of the psych patients I see are very clearly ill and they are passed on to the psych service after I see them and treat any general medical condition.

reply to post by beholdblight


I may be thinking of a different case (very possible). but if I'm remembering it correctly, the man in question threatened someone with one of those guns. When you couple that with what could be construed as paranoia, I would probably want him evaluated, too.

reply to post by l_e_cox


Yeah if you're a battery
NO

Is ECT safe?
It's about as safe as using cardiac defibrillators.
And is usually used for chronic, pharmaceutical refractory depression.
Although I have seen it used on a paranoid schizophrenic with catatonic episodes.
It took 3 sessions a week for two months. The patient had a complete recovery. I once asked them if they remembered crawling like a snake on the floor, and he answered ,"... I can remember everything. But it was like someone had taken over me, and I couldn't do anything about it."

I'm glad to see most of the post writers can see this ECT scam for what it is.

I thought most readers would be familiar with the use of psychiatry throughout history to help eliminate undesirables and dissenters. True, this happens most noticeably under very totalitarian conditions (Nazi Germany, Stalinist Russia) but it is happening in "free" countries, too. There are lots of sites besides CCHR that carry such stories. And we have some famous ones in our recent past, such as Francis Farmer. There are many others. All you have to do is look.

Of course in democratic countries there are laws, mostly at the state level, to protect our rights. But there is constant pressure to weaken them. Apparently such weakening has recently happened in France. As a result, a lot of these laws are not that strong. For example: it might require someone like a parent or spouse to sign commitment papers. Well, what if you aren't on good terms with your family? Who can protect you then? And there are certain populations that are particularly vulnerable, such as prison inmates, foster children, and old people.

If a person doesn't believe that there is evil in the world and that criminals can hide behind "legitimate" professions, well, I think they just have to raise their confront. It happens. And the problem with psychiatry is that it does not appear to be just random. It's organized. There's a plan. You have to hunt around the internet, or a good library, to find out about stuff like this. It's not going to be on the evening news (normally). But you CAN find out about it. It IS real.