ECT: II: Patients who Complain

Abstract

Twenty-six subjects who complained of permanent unwanted effects following ECT were compared with two groups of control subjects on a battery of 19 cognitive tests. Many statistically significant differences were found in cognitive functioning, mostly attributable to the level of depression or medication in the complainers. However, after analysis of variance/co-variance some differences still remained, indicating impaired cognitive functioning in the ECT complaining group.

Memory and cognitive effects of ECT: informing and assessing patients†

“…between 9 months and 30 years previously revealed impairment on a range of measures, even after controlling for the effects of illness and medication (Freeman et al, 1980). Despite recommendations that psychiatrists inform patients of non-memory cognitive aftereffects (Calev, 1994) and warn them that 'they are not going to function well on more tasks than they anticipate' (Calev et al, 1995), patients are still routinely not informed about these effects; there is no mention of them in the recommended consent forms of the American Psychiatric Association (APA; 2001), the Royal College of Psychiatrists (2005: Appendix IV) or the manufacturers of ECT equipment.…”

Service user views and service user research in theJournal of Mental Health

“…Although the 'Results' section of several papers showed the experience of memory loss amongst a significant proportion of recipients, the 'Discussion' concluded that this did not occur (e.g. Freeman et al, 1980). This discrepancy between the Results and the Discussion did not appear to us scientific -the very accusation often levelled at user-led research.…”

Madness strikes back

“…Psychiatrists may even conclude that permanent memory damage is not a significant problem when their actual results indicate the contrary (Freeman, Weeks, & Kendell, 1980).…”