Hacker News Reader

> why demonise it?

ECT is a palliative treatment that does not address any of the causes of the patients' actual problems. While some patients seem to benefit, some are grievously harmed. The precautionary principle, and ethical guidelines, should eliminate this form of modern bloodletting from the therapeutic arsenal.

View on HN

I would disagree. As the pathogenesis of most mental health problems is poorly understood, no treatment can be said to address the cause of the patients actual problems with any degree of validity. All medical interventions including CBT, pharmacological interventions and ECT have risks of harm and side effects. Therefore as with all these treatments a risk/benefit needs to be made, without appeal to the emotional response that ECT seems to produce in those reading about it. Current guidelines by panels of experts and systematic reviews suggests it is helpful in certain cases. Therefore it is reasonable to keep it in the arsenal of therapies while expert opinion and evidence supports it.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com