Peter Breggin, MD, Electroshock: Its Brain-Disabling Effects
(Springer) 1979
Dr. Breggin cites evidence that indicates that electoshock (electro-convulsive
therapy) causes nerve damage and overall shrinkage of the brain tissues;
he provides a convincing counter to the insistence of pro-shock psychiatrists
who claim that it cures depression 'even though no one understands the mechanism'
[or something to that effect] by citing a barrage of case studies that seem
to indicate not only that it causes substantial and permanent memory loss
as a consequence of brain damage, but that the euphoria caused by
brain damage and the eradication of memory (painful and otherwise) are
the primary, not the side effects; that
is how it 'works'
Read more from
the ECT clearinghouse and this note from the front
lines of the shock shop