Re: Lobotomy was Eliminativism

[Carrol Cox <cbcox@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

    Just a note to Doyle's discussion of electro-convulsive-therapy (the

technical name for "shock therapy"). As Doyle points out, there is a
long and barbaric history (of which lobotomy is only the most  dramatic)

of invasive physical treatments of mental illness. The 18th c. practice
which gave the movie *The Snake Pit* its name is another dramatic
episode. But as Doyle also points out, a focus solely on this history
can blur serious study and treatment of mental illness.

    And as a beginning, it is best to name electric shock treatment
accurately: Electro-convulsive therapy, or ECT). It is *not* the
shock that has either the therapeutic effects or the undesirable
side effects: it is the seizure (identical to the seizures of
"epilepsy")
that has those effects. The amount of electricity used has been
greatly reduced, decent anaesthesia is used, and muscle relaxants
are given to eliminate dangers of bone breakage which in the
past often occurred. It is still a debatable treatment but it no longer
belongs in the annals of "snake-pit treatment" or lobotomies.

I would not myself want to use it for the simple reason that for
me my memory is my life. And while the treatment does not
always or even usually lead to extreme and lasting memory
loss, it remains a possibility. I do know several persons
who have had the treatment and have benefitted from it. And
while by itself it does not last indefinitely, as Doyle points
out, in two of the cases known to me the patient was afterwards
stabilized with anti-depressants. An aunt of mine many years
ago received ECT -- and it affected her memory so badly,
and failed so badly in ameliorating her depression, that she
committed suicide. I am not giving an unalloyed approval to
the treatment. I just want to underline Doyle's point that
horror stories regarding ECT should not be allowed to
obscure the real triumphs of contemporary neuroscience.

Carrol