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Family Secrets

May 14, 2019 By Deborah Schwartzkopff

Some time back I took a trip…

Deborah Schwartzkopff ECTJustice.com
Deborah Schwartzkopff

Who ever I come into contact with, for even a brief period of time, I cannot help but share my experience with electroshock. It unsettles many.  The common response is, “are they still doing that”?  Another response I find frequently is that they share their family secrets of a loved one having had this “done to them.” I find that interesting phrasing and poignant. I assure them this is happening now at leading medical institutions, including Kaiser Permanente, and it is happening a lot.

During one particular trip, in 36 hours I met two people whose mothers had had electroshock. I was very happy to cross paths with a director/producer from L.A, and his wife. Learning of his occupation and possible ties to media, I slipped him my card and asked if he would help? It was a brief interaction.

The next morning I joined him and his wife for breakfast. He stated he had not yet had a chance to look at ectjustice.com. He seemed very sad in that moment, and reflective. He shared that his mother had had electroshock, and shared her outcomes. Learning what had actually happened to his mother at the hands of psychiatrists brought needed support.  He stated he would take this back to L.A., and try to assist with this.

A short time later, my path crossed with a woman in conversation. She is a healer. After quite some time she shared her experience as a teenager with her mother having electroshock. She stated that she and her mother had many fights because her mother would say she did not remember her being her daughter. She did not remember her daughter’s life.

Psychiatrists blamed the mother’s mental illness for her disorganization, confusion, agitation, etc. verses acknowledging the actual brain injury. This woman related how out of hurt and frustration she said and did things. I shared that her mother was telling her the truth about her compromised condition and the true outcomes of electroshock. I asked if her mother was still alive in hopes of reconciliation, but she has since passed away. I felt very sad for the two of them.

Family members please research “low voltage electrical trauma” and “traumatic brain injuries”. Review, and please acknowledge and validate, your loved ones experience. Please get them appropriate testing and rehab. If they have 6 months before time frames expire in your state for medical malpractice, contact law firms for representation around damages. Most law firms specializing in brain injury have been prepped with the needed information (brain injury firms). When you see posts on social media please speak out about this to put an end to this battery of patients, please.

Many psychiatrists offer “maintenance” electroshock when patients begin to complain of worsening symptoms. I feel it is to create apathy in the patient so they cannot pursue suit. In addition to traumatic brain injury outcomes, your loved one may have had many medication changes made, and multi-system bodily signs and symptoms impacted by electrical trauma. They need medical intervention to address these outcomes. A baseline needs to be established so one can figure out what is causing what.

Electrical trauma also does induce PTSD, anxiety, and depression.  This will have to be carefully navigated so no further harm is incurred. Please have your loved one fill out the survey on ectjustice.com. Please speak out about this and comment when you see posts so that this practice will be stopped and those responsible held accountable. Thank you.

Filed Under: Articles

Comments

  1. Katharine McDaniel says

    February 7, 2020 at 10:21 am

    My sister, age 75, experienced a knee replacement on 12/15/19. The surgery went well; however, she has ended up in the psych ward at the University of Michigan very recently. She lapsed into Major Depressive Disorder, and Anxiety, and Delirium. Her sons have just informed me that the Psych Dr. in that facility wants to perform ECT on her. I was aghast. I seriously did not realize the medical community was still offering this type of therapy.

    I am not endorsing this measure, and am trying to read as much on the subject as I can. Can you please advise me? By the Dr. suggesting this measure, is he saying that there is no other hope for her?

  2. Andrew Laird says

    August 27, 2019 at 4:43 pm

    Hi, I am 49 and live in England. In the mid 1970s I was given ECT treatment for a so called depression when I was 6. I vaguely remember having this thing put on my head, but only recently my mother told me of the horror she witnessed when I was given this treatment, and I still to this day have a scar and raised bump to the left of my forehead at the top. And apparently this was as a result of this ECT treatment. I have no memory of being depressed but had 2 parents that I remember were always arguing fighting and wasn’t the greatest environment at the time so if I was maybe this would explain why. But I do find it hard to concentrate or study and wish I could find out more information of that barbaric treatment I was given.

Static-Electricity "and the ashes will be blown away from the tops of their heads. It is edict! It is writ!"

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Welcome to the ECT survivors website.

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  • Don’t swallow everything you’re told as the truth May 22, 2019
  • Failure to speak out against ECT May 17, 2019
  • Family Secrets May 14, 2019
  • Stop Shocking and Torturing Women – Mad in America May 13, 2019
  • Lou Reed: That Which Does Not Kill Us Can Radicalize Us – Mad in America May 6, 2019
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ECT Justice was created to help advocate for ECT survivors and their families and to gather and disseminate information about known risks of ECT.  If you are an ECT survivor suffering from post-ECT cognitive deficiencies, please know you are not alone.  By sharing your issues, we are able to continue our efforts toward helping ensure that appropriate warnings of the potential risk of permanent injury gets provided to anyone considering ECT. Together we can make a difference.

Recent Posts

  • Don’t swallow everything you’re told as the truth May 22, 2019
  • Failure to speak out against ECT May 17, 2019
  • Family Secrets May 14, 2019
  • Stop Shocking and Torturing Women – Mad in America May 13, 2019
  • Lou Reed: That Which Does Not Kill Us Can Radicalize Us – Mad in America May 6, 2019
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