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Letters Electroconvulsive therapy

Attitude to electroconvulsive therapy is a sign of tribal affiliation

BMJ 2019; 364 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.l853 (Published 25 February 2019) Cite this as: BMJ 2019;364:l853
  1. Vaughan Bell, associate professor in clinical psychology
  1. Research Department of Clinical, Educational and Health Psychology, University College London, London WC1H 0AP, UK
  1. vaughan.bell{at}ucl.ac.uk

The fight about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) shows how partisan divisions hold back progress in mental health.1 Rather than ECT being an intervention to be evaluated on evidence, the attitude towards it has become a sign of tribal affiliation.

The evidence for ECT is surprisingly poor compared with other treatments. There is no reliable evidence for long term benefits because …

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