Shock treatment use has plummeted nationally but that's no reason to believe it's a "fringe" method, a leading psychiatrist says.
Ministry of Health director of mental health Dr David Chaplow said there had been decline in use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) nationally but that did not make the increasing use among Rotorua and Taupo people wrong.
He said the ministry looked at the use of ECT about two years ago and found it was a valuable treatment.
Lakes District Health Board has the highest use of the treatment in the country with 22 people per 100,000 receiving the treatment. It is three times the national average of 7.5 per 100,000 people.
Nationally the use of ECT has plummeted since the beginning of the decade.
In the 2001/2002 year 92 people per 100,000 were treated with ECT but just 7.5 per 100,000 received the treatment last year.
The figures prompted Dr John Read, a senior psychology lecturer at Auckland University, to call for the health board to launch an urgent inquiry, saying the figures were of concern.
ECT involves passing an electric current through the brain to induce a seizure, altering brain chemistry to regulate a patient's mood.
Advocates for the procedure say it is one of the most effective ways to treat depressed patients who don't respond to other forms of treatment.
Those against it say it is primitive, causes long-term brain damage and should be banned.
Lakes District Health Board isn't commenting but has said it is looking at the figures quoted in the report and carrying out "some analysis around that information".
Dr Chaplow said nationally ECT had gone out of fashion but that was no reason to think the Lakes board was over-using the treatment.
"There is also a perception among lay people that putting electricity through [someone's] head must be a bad thing."
Some found ECT was more effective and worked rapidly.
Some suicidal people found they were feeling much better the next day, while medication often took 14 days to become fully effective.
ECT was particularly effective in elderly people as ECT did not have the same heart side effects that medication could.
Dr Chaplow said rather than being labelled a barbaric treatment it should be seen as lifesaving. The whole point of the annual statistics was to be open and frank about the use of ECT, he said.
Dr Chaplow said the Lakes figures were interesting but it didn't mean the treatment was overused.
The process of ECT takes just a few minutes. People are given a general anaesthetic and muscle relaxants while the shock is administered. Patients wear a mouth guard so they don't bite their tongue.
Psychiatrist defends use of electric shock therapy
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