Ted Talks, electroshock therapy

published by eric3579

8 months 2 weeks ago • 1099 views

tags: electroshock therapy, Ted Talks

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Sherwin Nuland, the surgeon and author, talks about the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression. Midway through, his story turns personal. It's a moving and deeply felt talk about relief, redemption, second chances.

Comments

Pretty wild-sounds like a simple solution-NDE combined with the will to overcome.
Dunno man, as much as we know about the current treatments for depression, does EST sound all that bad, if it were a elected treatment??

I'd rather have the 10 courses, and a bit of lost time, than 5-10 years of slowed motor function, pharmaceutical dependence, and the promise of withdrawal and a major crash...

The real message here, is one of command of the will....

*long

written by choggie

| 8 months 3 weeks ago | CH

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Why did choggie's long invocation not take?

written by oxdottir

| 8 months 3 weeks ago | CH

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as someone who works in the mental health field I've always felt electroshock was a horrible technique that didn't work in most cases. Guess I'm wrong, and time to rethink my beliefs. Thank you Videosift (and Sherman Nuland)

written by netean | 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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Maybe siftbot doesn't like choggie?

*long

written by jimnms

| 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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This video has been flagged as being at least 10 minutes in length - declared long by jimnms.

written by siftbot

| 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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Is the reason many of us view electroshock, as a dangerous, mad scientist like procedure forced on the mentally ill with horrible results; due to the fact that one industry whipped up propaganda against this procedure? If there was a cure for depression they would stand to lose hundreds of millions of dollars with life time drug treatments.

written by eric3579

| 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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I quizzed my father (who is a psychologist) about this procedure . His comments mainly said that doctors didnt really know why it works, and that all it "simply" does is re-set the mind, kind of like pressing the button on your mobile phone.
Much of the negative reports are allegedly due to early experiments (as mentioned in the talk) and just the inability to understand how shocking someone can be therapeutic.
Fantastic vid guys!

written by stumblingjon

| 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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That was grand.

*science *humanitarian

written by calvados

| 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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Adding video to channels (Humanitarian, Science) - requested by calvados.

written by siftbot

| 8 months 2 weeks ago | CH

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*promote

written by Deano

| 3 weeks 2 days ago | CH

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Promoting this video back to the front page; last published Friday, November 9th, 2007 5:38am PST - promote requested by Deano.

written by siftbot

| 3 weeks 2 days ago | CH

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I have been around ECT, as it's called, for many years. It can be a life-saving intervention in severe depression. It's especially effective in major unipolar depression with pyschomotor slowing. You must realize that these patients can develop such pyschomotor slowing that they become catatonic, unable to eat, or get out of bed. Lay people tend to think of this as voluntary on the part of the patient. It's not.

Modern ECT is very safe. It probably has its effect by increasing brain levels of norepinephrine and dopamine. Many anti-depressants, such as Effexor, mainly target norepinephrine pharmacologically.

The main side-effect of ECT therapy is short-term memory loss. This brings up a whole new interesting subject, the physiology of short-term versus long-term memory. They are processed differently by the brain. ECT affects one, but typically not the other.

There is a high relapse rate after ECT and that is something people need to know. I think it approaches 50%.

written by snoozedoctor

| 3 weeks 2 days ago | CH

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I think that if a person's brain works on chemical reactions, then all that they need to know is how to cause the chemical reaction that will overcome mental issues. The brain can cause just about any reaction in a body, like an athlete who can forget about the pain. These things are achieved through brain training, which is has low impact on the knees and shoulders so you don't have to worry about injuries.

But that person has to be aware, and this is the difficult part. If a person is not aware that they are in a world that is fake then they will not find the real world. Like a dream, pay attention to things and the seams in the unreality will be revealed.

But then again, it could be like the beautiful mind, were these things can only be lived with, and not defeated.

written by NordlichReiter