by Justice Lover
The APA, which is the world's biggest organisation of psychiatrists, and the most important partner in the Big Pharma-psychiatry combine, continues its promotion of psychiatric torture in open defiance of public opinion (see for example http://18thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2009/04/doctors-of-deceptions-and-electroshock.html and see also : http://18thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2008/12/forced-electroshock-in-usanational_16.html).
Its promotion of electric shocks torture for "mental patients" is further proof of its loyalty to the ruling class, and not merely to the pharmaceutical industry. It is further proof that the shrinks are ruling class' executioners and torturers (see a honest neurologist's testimony which exposes the psychiatric lies and deceptions about the so called "safety" of electric shocks "therapy" here : http://3rdoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2007/08/more-on-crime-of-electric-shock-torture.html ).
The article below leads to the conclusion that there is a direct and deliberate link between psychiatry and fascism, as the inventor of electric shocks "therapy" in 1938 was an Italian psychiatrist at the service of the Mussolini regime, the world's first fascist dictatorship, and now the shrinks want his electric shock invention declared a "safe therapy". This new attempt follows closely the shrinks' recent attempt to promote lobotomy
(see : http://18thoutlawpsychiatry.blogspot.com/2009/11/psychiatry-fascist-quackery-is.html ).
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http://www.examiner.com/x-31400-Portland-Mental-Health-Examiner~y2009m12d26-APA-wants-shock-therapy-machines-classified-lowrisk
APA wants shock therapy machines classified “low-risk”
On Dec. 23, 2009, the American Psychiatric Association asked the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to class electroconvulsive therapy machines as low-risk devices, citing “strong evidence of [ECT’s] safety and efficacy.”
Currently, the machines are unregulated, falling into a gray area for devices in use before 1976, when the FDA began requiring proof of safety and effectiveness for new medical devices.
Depending on the FDA’s decision, data on clinical safety and efficacy may or may not be required. If the agency classifies ECT machines as Class I or II, there will be no mandatory review; if the devices are ranked Class III, denoting higher risk, safety and effectiveness must be established.
ECT is safer than when it was introduced in 1938. A single point of contact is often used instead of two, and anesthesia prevents the bone-breaking convulsions that were common in the past. But it is still controversial. Advocates say it is a treatment of last resort for severe depression; opponents point to side effects including possible brain damage and death.
For the estimated 30 percent of patients whose depression remains untouched by medication, ECT might provide relief. Some individuals say it has helped them when nothing else has.
But for others, the treatment is a nightmare.
One such person is Juli Lawrence, 46, of Long Island, N.Y., who told MSNBC that a course of 12 shock treatments in 1994 left her with memory loss and cognitive damage--and did not help her depression. “I was completely devastated,” said Lawrence.
The APA says, however, that the devices are safe. "There's no evidence to show [ECT] machines that we're using now are dangerous if used as indicated," reported Jerry Lewis, MD, a professor of psychiatry at the University of Iowa, and a member of APA. "The electrical current we use…is modulated enough that it doesn't cause any problems. The only issue you might see sometimes is cardiac arrhythmia."
