ALBERT

Keywords: Advisory Committees ; Anesthetics/adverse effects ; Depression/*therapy ; *Electroconvulsive Therapy/adverse effects ; Federal Government ; Humans ; Memory Disorders/etiology ; Mentally Ill Persons ; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ; Risk ; *Risk Assessment ; Time Factors ; United States ; disfavor has led to calls for more research on all aspects of this controversial ; treatment. A recent consensus conference sponsored by the National Institutes of ; Health produced cautious approval of ECT to treat severe depression. After ; reviewing existing research data and listening to testimony on ECT's effects, ; especially effects on memory, the panel recommended that immediate research be ; done on methods and effects of ECT, that ECT training be included in medical and ; psychiatric education, and that more attention be paid to review and regulatory ; mechanisms. Holden speculates that the persistent and fierce opposition to ECT ; reflects the schism within psychiatry between biological and psychodynamic ; treatment approaches, as well as the impact of public information gained largely ; from overly harrowing portrayals of ECT.