4 ms·
Saying depression is a “temporary change in behavior” is like saying pneumonia is a “temporary change in respiration.” It’s insulting and dismissive and indicat
by nicklecompte 6y ago
Saying depression is a “temporary change in behavior” is like saying pneumonia is a “temporary change in respiration.” It’s insulting and dismissive and indicates you don’t really care very much about this issue.
Depression kills people. ECT has serious side effects but it is also has proven efficacy and, if administered properly, is never fatal. All medicine involves this sort of cost-benefit analysis and in cases of severe drug-resistant depression, where there is a high risk of the patient dying in the short term, ECT is the only alternative.
- kerblang 6y agoWhile the parent comment isn't all that helpful, I suspect they meant "...in exchange for a temporary change..."; in other words, not that that depression is temporary, but beneficial effects of ECT are.
- yellowapple 6y ago> Saying depression is a “temporary change in behavior" That ain't how I interpreted the above comment. > but it is also has proven efficacy Right, but at what cost? It seems very much like something that just replaces one problem with another, at best (and at worst, introduces more problems while the existing ones don't go away). But hey, as long as it's voluntary, who am I to judge?
- deleted 6y ago[deleted]
- type0 6y ago> But hey, as long as it's voluntary, who am I to judge? If we are talking about very severely depressed you can't trust them to weight the risks and benefits in their own favor, so the physicians have so big overwhelming influence on their decision that it can't be argued otherwise.
- yellowapple 6y agoThat's kind of what I was underhandedly getting at, yeah. And when applied to more debilitating conditions like schizophrenia, "consent" is even more wibbly-wobbly.