The use of electroconvulsive therapy in young people

There are negligible data about the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in young people, and persuasive reasons to examine the subject further. This thesis examines the current status and future directions of ECT in the young. It focuses on, in turn, the quality of evidence and information about the effectiveness and safety of the procedure from previous published reports, the use of ECT in young persons in the state of New South Wales over almost a decade, the views of people who received ECT as adolescents, and their parents, about the treatment, and the experience, knowledge and attitudes of child psychiatrists regarding ECT. The key findings were that ECT appears to be an effective and safe treatment in young persons, that it is generally viewed positively by those who received the treatment in adolescence and by their parents, and that there are gaps in the knowledge of child psychiatrists about the treatment which may be narrowing. There are several clinical and research implications. Most importantly, the results will be reassuring to young patients, and their families, for whom ECT emerges as a treatment option, and will be informative for clinicians caring for or consulted about these patients. At the same time, further research is needed to endorse and extend the findings. Following publication, several of the findings have been replicated in studies conducted in other countries and heavily cited in journal articles, psychiatric texts and ECT guidelines, including the guidelines of the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry