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Brief Report: Decline in the Use of ECT: The York Study

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Kumud Bhatnagar
Affiliation:
High Royds Hospital, Menston, Ilkley
Peter Kennedy
Affiliation:
Bootham Park Hospital, York
Stephen Morley
Affiliation:
University of Leeds
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A national survey in 1980 drew attention to the wide variation in frequency with which electro-convulsive treatment was being used. Yorkshire Region was at the top of the league with three times the level of the Oxford Region which had the lowest rate. Since then a good deal more research has been published on the effectiveness and limitations of ECT.1–3 Other factors which might have influenced clinicians in their prescribing of this treatment include much stricter conditions in the 1983 Mental Health Act for giving ECT compulsorily, plenty of media comment which may have reduced its acceptability, the increasing confidence of general practitioners in prescribing antidepressant drug therapies, and the greater emphasis on community care.

Type
Articles
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1987

References

1 Gregory, S., Shawcross, C. R. & Gill, D. (1985) The Nottingham ECT Study: A double blind comparison of bilateral, unilateral, and simulated ECT in depressive illness. British Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 520524.Google Scholar
2 Kendell, R. E. (1981) The present status of electroconvulsive therapy. British Journal of Psychiatry, 139, 265283.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
3 Pippard, J. & Ellam, L. (1981) Electroconvulsive Treatment in Great Britain, 1980: A Report to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. London: Gaskell. (Royal College of Psychiatrists).Google Scholar
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