A new study reveals widespread misinformation about electroshock therapy among patients. Parents are similarly misled about ECT use on teens and children as young as five. Moreover, antidepressants—often a precursor to ECT recommendations—also carry significant risks.

By CCHR International
The Mental Health Industry Watchdog
December 20, 2024

A new study reveals that patients feel misinformed about the risks of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), reinforcing the argument that the practice should be banned, according to CCHR, the mental health industry watchdog. Study participants shared accounts of immediate cognitive and memory impairments, as well as long-term effects such as profound loss of abilities, memory, humanity, and personal connections, along with psychological harm and a sense of brain damage. Published in Qualitative Health Research, the study highlights that many patients are denied recognition of their adverse outcomes, which intensifies their struggles.[1]

In the U.S., young teens and children under six have undergone ECT. Lacking the ability to consent, parents, often misinformed about its safety and efficacy, agree to the practice. In the U.S., no clinical trials have substantiated these claims.

The information leaflets provided to patients regarding ECT have been found to minimize the prevalence or severity of memory loss, researchers found. The study says, “Following ECT, there is a possibility of permanent adverse effects including memory and cognitive impairment” and that “Iatrogenic harm, the infliction of harm through medical interventions, is a known possible outcome of ECT.”

While the survey of consumers occurred in the United Kingdom, CCHR says that similar patient complaints about ECT have been reported to the group in the U.S. and other countries. Recently, CCHR International supported groups helping a Minnesota man who was threatened with court-ordered ECT when he refused to consent to it. The man had already received 17 courses of involuntary shock at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and was terrified of undergoing more.

In its letter to another psychiatric hospital attempting to force ECT upon the 44-year-old man, CCHR cited numerous United Nations reports that say involuntary, forced electroshock constitutes torture and that U.S. courts have acknowledged ECT’s risks to patients, including brain damage, memory loss, and cognitive disability.[2]

ECT is often recommended when other treatments have not worked, especially antidepressants. These drugs also have iatrogenic side effects. The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently reviewing safety alerts for 30 antidepressants, after Thomas Kingston, husband of Lady Gabriella Kingston, daughter of Prince and Princess Michael of Kent, fatally shot himself due to adverse effects from these drugs.[3] A coroner ruled Mr. Kingston shot himself due to the adverse effect of the medications he had been prescribed, which included the common antidepressant citalopram. According to evidence given at his inquest, Mr. Kingston had complained that another antidepressant, sertraline, was making him anxious. A medical expert at the inquest, Dr David Healy, suggested this was a sign that SSRI antidepressants “did not suit him” and that he should not have been prescribed citalopram following this. “We need a much more explicit statement saying that these drugs can cause people to commit suicide who wouldn’t have otherwise,” he said.[4]

MHRA data shows 71 alerts since 2014 over deaths linked to citalopram and 114 for sertraline.[5]

According to JAMA Psychiatry, ECT is recommended after two antidepressants have failed as “first-line” treatments. CCHR says consumers are often misinformed and, therefore, are unaware that treatment side effects can drive them to have suicidal feelings. When these increase, they are further misled into believing it is their mental state “at fault,” rather than the adverse mental and physical effects synonymous with both antidepressants and electroshock.

During the holiday season, CCHR is committed to raising awareness about individuals experiencing sorrow because of a lost one, loneliness, being away from family, and more. People can become unwitting candidates for having such emotions misdiagnosed as “holiday depression,” and put at risk of being prescribed antidepressants. CCHR wants to see different, non-invasive approaches taken to help individuals and strongly urges against agreeing to electroshock therapy, recommending legal support if necessary to prevent its forced use.

CCHR has achieved significant milestones in mental health reform. In 1976, it played a pivotal role in securing the first-ever prohibition on electroshocking minors in California. Similarly, in 2014, CCHR helped enact legislation in Western Australia that made administering ECT to minors a criminal offense. The organization was also instrumental in prompting the Food and Drug Administration to hold hearings on the potential suicidal effects of SSRI antidepressants, leading to the FDA issuing warnings of suicidal ideation for individuals under 24.

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References:

[1] Emily Shipwright, David Murphy, “Long-Term Adverse Effects After Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT): A Narrative Analysis Exploring People’s Experiences, Meaning-Making, and Coping,” Qualitative Health Research, 2024, https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/10497323241303391

[2] “CCHR Supports Minnesota Man’s Opposition to Enforced Electroshock Treatment,” CCHR International, 4 Dec. 2024, https://www.cchrint.org/2024/12/04/cchr-supports-opposition-to-enforced-electroshock-treatment/

[3] “More than 100 alerts over deaths linked to antidepressants taken by Thomas Kingston” The Independent, 8 Dec. 2024, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/antidepressant-citalopram-thomas-kingston-b2658665.html; https://www.the-independent.com/news/health/antidepressant-citalopram-thomas-kingston-b2658665.html

[4] “More than 100 alerts over deaths linked to antidepressants taken by Thomas Kingston,” The Independent, 8 Dec. 2024, https://www.independent.co.uk/news/health/antidepressant-citalopram-thomas-kingston-b2658665.html

[5] “More than 100 alerts over deaths linked to antidepressants taken by Thomas Kingston,” The Independent, 8 Dec. 2024, https://www.the-independent.com/news/health/antidepressant-citalopram-thomas-kingston-b2658665.html