Shock Therapy to Treat Autism

[Sportster]

I once spoke to someone years ago about ECT; I had seen the after effects on someone and wondered about it. I was told that they didn't fully understand how/why it worked, but it helped those with severe depression. That did not inspire confidence, as it sounds like some sort of experiment if they didn't understand.

I have received some very serious electrical shocks over the years, so I can't help but wonder about the physical effects to the brain by running electricity through it. With the advent of pharmaceutical breakthroughs, I don't see why they can't come up with something that would work better than frying one's brain cells with electricity be it for depression or autism.

 

[Theta.G]

What are your views on using electroconvulsive therapy?

If you have a small cut and small minor infection on your forearm... do you chop the whole arm off at the shoulder? This is how i view shock "therapy". It's an insane practice and those who still use it willingly are crazier than their patients. Many pharmaceutical drugs are like this too. Oh your blood pressure is a little high. ok then lets just shut off (greatly reduce) your whole entire sympathetic nervous system! ... effing insanity.


Do you think it's useful in treating those on the spectrum?
Sure. It might be useful for a little while. Until they degrade into a vegetative state or worse, death.

 

[Bolletje]

I have seen electroconvulsive therapy used to treat therapy-resistant depression. I know a percentage of patients benefit from it, but it does have huge drawbacks, like memory loss. Some of the patients I talked to thought the results worth the side effects, others didn’t.

If I suffered from chronic depression and none of the medicinal treatments worked, I would consider ECT.

I don’t know anything about ECT as therapy for autism, so I won’t comment on that.

 

[Lysander]

Autism is measured through behaviors, so I'd say let the deranged NT parents try it on themselves first to see if it cures them of the impulse to torture their kids. It's a dubious practice of questionable benefit and I would not consider it as part of a treatment plan, especially for a child who may not be able to vocalize their objections.

 

[Iamnotarabot]

If you kill someone he wont be autistic anymore, yeah well done science.

 

[OkRad]

Holy [expletive deleted]. I agree with @Iamnotarabot .

 

[Judge]

Interesting to note that on the Web MD site, they itemize all the benefits of Electroconvulsive Therapy per the American Psychiatric Association.

While a number of possible comorbid conditions are listed, nowhere do I see any forms of autism:

https://www.webmd.com/depression/guide/electroconvulsive-therapy#2

So I would vote "no".

 

[Autistamatic]

It's akin to using an atom bomb to kill a fly IMO. I have heard of some cases where people with severe depression claim to have been cured, but I have also read that it rates little better than placebos used in blind studies of medications and even "sham" ECT.
Why not just stick an ice-pick up your nose and wriggle it about? That was a "proven" effective treatment for many years too, but at least we know why it worked!

"Major depressive disorder is not only the most widespread mental disorder in the world, it is a disorder on the rise. In cases of particularly severe forms of depression, when all other treatment options have failed, the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a recommended treatment option for patients. ECT has been in use in psychiatric practice for over 70 years and is now undergoing something of a restricted renaissance following a sharp decline in its use in the 1970s. Despite its success in treating severe depression there is continued debate as to the effectiveness of ECT: in some studies, it is argued that ECT is marginally more effective than sham ECT. In addition, there is still no clear explanation of how ECT works; among the range of hypotheses proposed it is claimed that ECT may work by harnessing placebo effects. In light of the uncertainties over the mechanism of action of ECT and given the risk of serious side effects that ECT may produce, I contend that the process of informed consent must include comprehensive accounts of these uncertainties. I examine the possible consequences of providing adequate information to potential ECT patients, including the consideration that ECT may still prove to be effective even if physicians are open about the possibility of it working as a placebo. I conclude that if we value patient autonomy as well as the professional reputation of medical practitioners, a fuller description of ECT must be provided to patients and their carers."

 

[GrownupGirl]

I think it's evil and vile and horribly outdated.

 

[Bolletje]

Just wanted to add that I don’t see a place for ECT in the treatment or management of autism. My statement and choice in the poll was purely about ECT for depression.

 

[Progster]

It's outdated, potentially very harmful and no longer should be used.

 

[tducey]

Option 2, definitely Option 2, for me.

 

[tlc]

I say don't know enough to comment. I only have seen it in the movies, which could be a very exaggerated experience from reality. It could have been that way decades ago, but I do know these days they have come a long way with everything. They have the technology to target areas and control amperage very precisely and monitor everything closely, it has the possibility of being viable. Whether or not it actually helps anything is another story, I don't know enough about that.

 

[Fade2black]

Interesting comments in this thread. Most appear to be opinions based upon misinformation. I’ve had more than a dozen ECT (Electro Convulsive Therapy) treatments for lifelong chronic depression. In my case, and I’m in the minority, the treatments failed to relieve the depression, which is rare.

ECT has its place in treating the schizophrenic and chronically depressed. It’s far from being barbaric or outdated and the positive results are proven. However, the idea of ECT for Autism sounds about as effective as someone playing darts in the dark.

Yes, immediately after the treatment my eggs were scrambled but it’s more from the sedation than the electricity. The sedation is like any sedation for surgery. We tend to laugh at people right after surgery because they are incoherent. But, we are appalled by the incoherency of someone coming out of an anesthetized state after ECT. Why?

I think movies and TV have done a real disservice for ECT because they overdramatize the ECT part and instill fear in the public. Jaws is good example of overdramatization and that movie caused fear in people all over the world. Enough that some people stopped swimming.

 

[Stardust Parade]

In my experience, I used to take care of an elderly woman who received ECT for bipolar disorder. The poor woman also had Alzheimer's disease, so it exacerbated her symptoms of memory loss even more. I'm not sure if it really helped with her bipolar or not, but the family insisted on it being done once a month. All I know is that it upset her a great deal when she knew she had to go to the hospital for it, and afterwards she was totally out of it.
I think it can work for some people if all other treatments have failed, but not for others. The person is put under anesthesia before the shocks are delivered so they don't feel anything during the procedure. It's not like you see in movies where the person is lying on a gurney and thrashing around.
I have never heard of it being used to treat autism, although depression is a comorbidity of AS and I suppose if the person's depression was bad enough they might choose to try it if all other treatments have failed.

 

[GrownupGirl]

I once knew a woman with schizophrenia who had constant involuntary movements as if she had Parkinson's disease and her whole motor system was shot She told me it was because she had been given shock therapy several times, possibly back in a time when it was more common.

 

[LateBloomer]

I think movies and TV have done a real disservice for ECT because they overdramatize the ECT part and instill fear in the public. Jaws is good example of overdramatization and that movie caused fear in people all over the world. Enough that some people stopped swimming.[/QUOTE]
I think that TV and Movies have done a great disservice to just about everything , including ASD .Why is it that so many people think that you can tell an autistic person by the way they look ? Could it be that almost every time a person is presented as autistic that we are shown a picture of someone with downs syndrome sitting in a rocking chair in a dark room banging their head against the wall .

 

[dragonfire42]

I've had ECT for severe depression that wasn't being helped by medication. It didn't do anything for the depression, it just totally messed up my memory. Didn't do anything for my autistic traits either, though perhaps it would have to be calibrated differently for that. I confess I'm hardly an expert on it, all I can give is my personal experience.

 

[SDRSpark]

I've never had it, but I've heard that a lot of people really are helped by it. It's a treatment of last resort, it's continue to live in mental health hell or try this. I think it'd be a crime to take that option from the people it really does help, when nothing else does.

My experience with memory loss from mental illness (when I was at my worst I could barely add 2+2) tells me that I'd rather have memory loss from getting shocked in the head but be happy, than have memory loss from depression and be miserable. Sometimes I think people forget that the mental illness can also mess with your memory and perception.

I also know it's nothing like it used to be, and nothing like what's shown in the movies (being held down, fully conscious and shocked against your will). It's done under sedation, with full consent of the patient (or should be - terrible doctors exist no matter the discipline).

As for using it for autism...the only time I've heard of that is when it's used as "aversive therapy" and it's basically like a shock collar...hurt the person who is engaging in autistic behavior. This is obviously terrible, abuse, and not even remotely the same thing as ECT.

 

[Bolletje]

I’m part of a support group for people with bipolar disorder, and I know many of them have benefited from ECT when medication wasn’t doing the trick.