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Originally Posted by joe_mullen
sounds like a fairly biased course. "electro-shock therapy" (aka ECT) is actually an extremely effective treatment for treatment resistant/difficult to treat depression. it has been given a bad name in the media but is actually a great form of treatment. as for medications, why the stigma against them. would your opinion be the same if it was medication for diabetes or hypertension? mental illness is a medical illness just like those others. some can be treated with non-pharmacological measures, some require prescription medications.
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Depends how you define extremely effective. Depends on if you value memory. ECT has helped some people no doubt. But don't minimize the experiences of those who've had it who think the only effects its had on their life was negative. What percentage of people would it have to help to be considered extremely effective by you? What percentage of people would it have to harm to make you wonder about how effective it is?
Call me biased but blasting people's brains with electricity to make them forget isn't a "extremely effective" way to deal with depression. Some people are depressed because they have bad life coping skills, how's it going to help that?
The role of community, family and counselling is often minimized in order to get the quick fix of some pills or ECT or what have you. Damage has been done to lots of people who might have had normal lives.
One of the more damning statistics I've found was in a study the World Health Organization did which said that good outcomes for schizophrenics in First World countries was around 1/3. Good outcomes for schizophrenics in Third World countries was 2/3 or twice as good if I remember correctly. Tends to indicate the drugs we feed schizophrenics are doing little to cure them, and only changing symptomology while putting them on drugs they have to stay on indefinitely. In Third World countries schizophrenics are actually being cured after an episode, probably with the help of community and family.