The return of electroshock therapies In the 60’s, electroshock therapy was a controversial treatment and very much misunderstood by the scientific community. In 1997, it remains as controversial and misunderstood, but we prescribe it more and more.
The tool of a minority of psychiatrists
There are about one thousand psychiatrists in Quebec. The partisans of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) say that the larger North American psychiatric associations and the majority of their colleagues support the use of this treatment. However, a statistical analysis of RAMQ came to balance this affirmation.
We have learned that in 1995 nearly 50% of ECT sessions(3 400 of 7 218) were prescribed by only 16 professionals - who represent only 1.5% of the profession.
ECT, the miracle treatment of the 50’s that became a nightmare in the 70’s, is making a comeback in Quebec. We have gone from 4 000 sessions in 1988 to 7 200 in 1995. A stunning increase for a treatment regarded as almost obsolete – if not totally abandoned - by most people. (Quebec Science / March 1997)
Our position on this subject is to show the highest disapproval possible to this treatment. The risks are too high compared to the benefits this treatment can bring. There still exists too much uncertainty and the experiments are based on the principle of trial and error in what concerns the frequency and repetition of the treatment.
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