Electroshock as a Form of Violence Against Women

Burstow, Bonnie

doi:10.1177/1077801206286404

Cited by 24 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…Standpoint theory highly values lived experience and validates it as a legitimate source of knowledge. As Burstow (2006a) and Smith (1987) remind us, a researcher involved in such a style of research is not neutral but, instead, is directed by the standpoint. The testimony of the women who agreed to sit with me and tell me their story is viewed as truthful, valid, and valuable.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The same can be said about the vulnerability of patients labeled psychiatric (Reaume, 2006). As Burstow (2006a, b) astutely points out, the fact that approximately seventy percent of people who are prescribed and receive electroshock, with over half of all people administered ECT being over sixty years of age, and given the disproportionate damage being done to the brains of women and the elderly. In fact, Sackeims et al 's study (2007) confirms that women and the elderly are more damaged by shock.…”

Section: A Spectrum Of Vulnerability: Desperation Shame Powerlessnementioning

confidence: 97%

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Waiting for Oblivion: Women's Experiences with Electroshock

Daalen-Smith

2011

Issues in Mental Health Nursing

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This article presents findings and analysis stemming from a two-year qualitative study that explored, in their own voices, women's lived experience of electroshock. Feminist standpoint theory frames and provides the moorings for both the validity and methodology of this woman-centered inquiry. In addition, nurses' experiences with and views of ECT are explored and compared to the experiences reported by the women recipients themselves. Vulnerability and disconnection as emergent themes are presented for the nursing profession's sober consideration. The nurses interviewed believed electroshock culminated in a net gain for patients, but for the majority of the women interviewed, electroshock resulted in damage and devastating loss. This article closes with pressing questions for nurses to ask ourselves as we enter the second decade of this new and promising millennium.

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Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 97%

Section: A Spectrum Of Vulnerability: Desperation Shame Powerlessnementioning

confidence: 97%

Waiting for Oblivion: Women's Experiences with Electroshock

Daalen-Smith

2011

Issues in Mental Health Nursing

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“…A decade ago, a critical feminist analysis reframed ECT as a method of violence against women (Burstow 2006). A decade ago, a critical feminist analysis reframed ECT as a method of violence against women (Burstow 2006).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A decade ago, a critical feminist analysis reframed ECT as a method of violence against women (Burstow 2006). Burstow argued that ECT was a traumatic procedure designed to socially control behaviour through punishment and fear (Burstow 2006). Women described ECT as demeaning, humiliating, and life-destroying, drawing a comparison with domestic violence.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

I had no other option: Women, electroconvulsive therapy, and informed consent

Clarke

Barnes

Ross

2017

Int J Mental Health Nurs

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Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a controversial procedure used in the management of depression. Whilst it may be administered under mental health legislation, it is usually given to people who voluntarily consent. At the practice level, the consent process for ECT requires a detailed explanation of the procedure. The person consenting must have capacity to make this decision, and consent must be given freely and without coercion. Research using a feminist narrative approach unexpectedly highlighted the issue of potential coercion in the context of explaining the procedure. In-depth interviews were used to understand seven women's accounts of deciding to receive ECT. A thematic analysis of their narratives uncovered a shared concern with how they consented to the treatment. Four subthemes were identified that related to the way in which they provided their consent: (i) 'Not enough information'; (ii) 'I had no other choice'; (iii) 'Just go along with it'; and (iv) 'Lacking capacity'. A consent process that includes elements of passive coercion and a lack of timely and appropriate information influences the way some women make decisions. These factors can disempower women at the point of decision-making. A practice shift is needed where women are enabled to have control over decisions. Further, there is a need to adhere more rigorously to noncoercive practice when obtaining consent.

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“…8,9 Despite this fact, ECT has been widely viewed as an invasive, terrifying, and even dehumanizing or cruel procedure by the lay public 10,11 and even in some scientific writings. 12,13 There has also been a trend toward supporting this view by the way ECT is portrayed in movies and public media in some countries. 14 This may be partly explained by a general distrust against any invasive manipulation of the brain to induce changes in mood and behavior and probably by the natural tendency of the media for exaggerating areas of the public curiosity, fear, emotion, and ambiguity.…”

mentioning

confidence: 97%

Knowledge of Attitude Toward Experience and Satisfaction With Electroconvulsive Therapy in a Sample of Iranian Patients

Malekian

Amini²,

Maracy³

et al. 2009

The Journal of ECT

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Despite the wide consensus over the safety and efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), it still faces negative publicity and unfavorable attitudes of patients and families. Little is known about how the experience with ECT affects the patients' and their families' attitude toward it. The aim of this study was to examine a sample of Iranian patients and their families regarding their experience with ECT and to compare their knowledge and attitude toward ECT before and after this experience and their satisfaction with it. We surveyed 22 patients with major depressive disorder about to undergo ECT and 1 family member of each patient for their knowledge and attitude toward ECT and then surveyed them again after the trial of ECT to compare those variables while assessing their experience and satisfaction with ECT. Patients were rated using the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale and Mini-Mental Status Examination before and after the treatment. We found that, before ECT, family members had a more favorable attitude toward ECT than patients, but after ECT, the patients' attitude changed more positively compared with their families. Both patients and their families had a poor knowledge of ECT before the ECT trial, but their total knowledge increased afterward, although not in the areas of indications and therapeutic effects. The majority of patients and their families found ECT to be beneficial and were satisfied with it. Satisfaction with ECT was independent of treatment outcome. There was a high rate of perceived coercion to consent to ECT. Attention should be paid toward educating patients and their families about the ECT process, indications, risks, safety, and effects as well as informing them about their freedom of choice and right to refuse.

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Electroshock as a Form of Violence Against Women

Cited by 24 publications

References 10 publications

Waiting for Oblivion: Women's Experiences with Electroshock

Waiting for Oblivion: Women's Experiences with Electroshock

I had no other option: Women, electroconvulsive therapy, and informed consent

Knowledge of Attitude Toward Experience and Satisfaction With Electroconvulsive Therapy in a Sample of Iranian Patients

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