title: Historical essay: electroconvulsive therapy, memory, and self in America.
abstract: Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) practitioners and anti-ECT activists have divergent interpretations of both the treatment and its history. Despite claims by ECT opponents that practitioners do not acknowledge memory side effects, the published literature on the procedure demonstrates psychiatrists' awareness of this issue. And though current ECT practitioners claim that memory side effects were mostly the result of outmoded methods, investigators continue to publish studies that indicate ongoing memory problems. This article explores the conflict between pro- and anti-ECT groups around the issue of memory side effects in the broader context of changes in American psychiatry and society.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. lauradh@umich.edu
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Hirshbein
mesh_terms: D004565:Electroconvulsive Therapy / Q000009:adverse effects / Q000266:history*; D049673:History, 20th Century; D049674:History, 21st Century; D006801:Humans; D008568:Memory; D008569:Memory Disorders / Q000209:etiology* / Q000266:history; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000628:therapy*; D011570:Psychiatry / Q000266:history* / Q000379:methods; D012043:Regression, Psychology; D012649:Self Concept; D014481:United States