The Pros And Cons Of Electroconvulsive Therapy

Is electroconvulsive therapy ethical? No, I do not believe that this form of treatment is in any way shape or form ethical. I cannot imagine purposefully sending electricity thru my brain. This intentionally causes seizures that will eventually take away the depression (so they say). They have tried to make it a safer treatment these days by giving the patient muscle relaxants to help control the person’s seizures and they also use anesthetics to put the people to sleep so they are sleeping during the treatment. To me this seems exceptionally dangerous and not worth the risks. One of the risks is the memory loss that people have after the treatments. It is very possible that you could lose some very important things from your memories. Having seizures is dangerous and does destroy brain cells. My son had seizures as a child until he was in the 6th grade. They are scary and I was always afraid that he would have damage from the seizures. He did not, thank goodness. To me it is NOT worth the risks. I think that a person would have to have a very severe case of depression to be able to justify this type of treatment. I have also learned that everybody has the right to do as they please, so this is only my opinion.

I also feel that it is unethical. Now being in healthcare I totally understand

I am not a fan of this treatment and I do not feel it is ethical. I watched my son have seizures over and over from infancy to his 6th grade year in school. I am thankful that he did not have any side effects from the seizures but they can cause damage to your brain. So knowing that this treatment will cause memory loss I do not see how this a good thing. Memory loss is brain damage and purposefully doing this to yourself is something I don 't understand. Now that being said I have not had a mental illness that could not be controlled by medication. Maybe as a last resort it is worth all the