THE MENTAL HEALTH Commission has raised concerns about the use of electro-convulsive therapy (ECT) on non-consenting patients.
Also known as electroshock therapy, ECT continues to be administered in cases where the patient is unwilling or unable to give consent, the Mental Health Commission’s annual report has revealed.
Currently a patient must consent to the treatment, but if they decide against it then their decision can be overridden if two psychiatrists believe it is in the best interests of the patient.
The most recent figures show that in 2011, 25 out of 332 programmes of ECT were given without the consent of the psychiatric patient.
This compares with 35 cases of ECT, out of a total of 347, that was administered to unwilling patients in 2010.
Although the Commission is concerned about the figures, they have welcomed the steady decline in the instances of ECT given without consent and is now awaiting the development of mental capacity legislation, known as the ‘Assisted Decision-making Bill’.
ECT is a medical procedure in which an electric current is passed briefly through the brain through electrodes applied to the scalp to induce general seizure activity.
The person receiving the treatment is placed under general anaesthetic and muscle relaxants are given to prevent body spasms. Its purpose is to treat specific types of major mental illnesses, such as depression, bipolar disorder or schizophrenia.
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