The popular images of electroshock presented in the media reflect practices that were discarded more than 40 years ago. The films One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and A Beautiful Mind portray imaginative Hollywood images—not reality. The dramatic scene of a pleading patient dragged to a treatment room, forcibly administered electric currents as his jaw clenches, his back arches, and his body shakes while being held down by burly attendants or by foot and wrist restraints, is false. Patients are not coerced into treatment. They may be anxious and reluctant, but they come willingly to the treatment room. They have been told why the treatment is recommended, the procedures have been explained, and many have seen DVD or video images of the procedures. Each patient has consented to the treatment in writing, and in many instances, family members have also agreed. Understandably, the patient may be hesitant about the first treatment. He has seen those movies, so the procedures are explained again, and, except for feeling a needle placed in his vein and electrodes and measuring devices attached to his body, the patient is unaware of the treatment as it occurs. One patient described his treatment this way: “It is a nonentity, a nothing. You go to sleep, and when you wake up, it is all over. It is easier to take than going to the dentist.” Many patients ask to be treated early in the morning so that they can return to the day’s activities as soon as possible. It is not uncommon for patients to reassure family members about the procedure. Doctors frequently ask an experienced patient to explain the procedures and the discomforts to a candidate; patients undergoing ECT have proved to be its best advocates. A consent form, voluntarily signed by each patient, is a necessary part of electroconvulsive treatment in the United States. Such a consent procedure is uncommon in psychiatric practice, and was developed to address concerns about abuse at a time when public distrust of governmental authority was widespread and had affected the physician-patient relationship. In most venues, doctors accept the patient’s cooperation with medication treatment and psychotherapy as consent.
Women, Men and Gender Equality in Development Aid – Trajectories, Contestations
