Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT & the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children

Say “shock therapy” to most people and what comes to mind? For many, it is some version of Jack Nicholson’s experience in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest: a patient writhing on the table as a crazed doctor sends waves of electricity through his brain, all with disastrous consequences. Even during my psychiatry clerkship as a medical student, I had some trepidation when my attending doctor recommended that I observe the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) my severely depressed patient was receiving. I went down to the PACU and waited nervously as the patient was wheeled into the room and helped onto the gurney. She was lightly anesthetized. She received the electrical current only briefly and, with no more than a slight twitch of her right foot, was soon awake and talking, her headache managed with a few tablets of ibuprofen. It was surprisingly non-exciting. Surely not worthy of an Oscar performance. However, the effects were profound. Over weeks of treatment, I watched as the depression that had gripped my patient for months slowly began to lift. Despite its efficacy and safety, ECT continues to stir public controversy and criticism — and this is even with consenting adults. ECT for children sparks a whole other level of controversy. Stepping into the fray is Amy Lutz’s new book Each Day I Like It Better: Autism, ECT, and the Treatment of Our Most Impaired Children. It gives the story of one family’s struggle with autism and how ECT played a critical ...
Source: Psych Central - Category: Psychiatry Authors: Tags: Autism / Asperger's Book Reviews Children and Teens Disorders ECT General Personal Stories School Issues amy lutz Amy SF Lutz Each Day I Like It Better impaired children treatment Source Type: news