According to a recent study carried out by the scientists at the University of Edinburgh, Scotland - electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also popularly known as shock therapy, is the most effective treatment for depression.
Depression reportedly affects around 15 to 17 percent of people world over at some point in their lifetime, and women are twice more prone than men to this affliction, the study reveals.
This study led by Klaus Ebmeier, professor of psychiatry at Edinburgh University studied more than 65,000 adults and children, who were treated for depression over a 10-year period beginning 1992.
The study published in January 14 issue of The Lancet revealed that suicide risk reduced after a patient was administered medications like serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).
The authors say: “Recent moral panics about suicidal effects and dependence–inducing potential of antidepressants have tilted the balance of publicly perceived risk against them, but both their effectiveness and their ready availability make them the likely choice for most patients.”
According to Dr Ebmeier, counseling is often recommended for treating cases of mild depression. However, in severe cases, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), in addition to antidepressants, is the most effective treatment. He recommends it to patients paricularly exhibiting psychotic symptoms
An editorial in the same issue of the Lancet also stated that persons with mental disorders should not be discriminated against socially. It adds: “Sadly, for many people a diagnosis of depression is made worse by the social stigma that still clings to all mental-health diagnoses, by difficulties in accessing treatment options, and by confusion about which treatments work and which may make their problems worse.”
However, only between 25 to 50 percent of patients suffering from depression take medical assistance.
In fact, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) cautioned in 2004 that suicidal behavior is likely to intensify after patients are treated with antidepressants, particularly children and adolescents. But recent studies have shown otherwise.
Dr. Ebmeir added: “Depression is not only a very common, incapacitating, and occasionally lethal illness that deserves our full attention, but also spans a wide range of severity and requires a large choice of treatments.”
