Thursday, December 16, 2010

face-blindness tied to shock-therapy: a note to the future

that’s pretty scary….

CBS news is saying 1 in fifty people “have” face-blindness.  where a person can’t recognize faces readily.  or they mistake strangers for people they know.

they want the ‘public’ to be ‘aware’ and be ‘tolerant’ of this ‘terrible’ disease.

well ……… I’ve met a LOT more than 50 people in my life.  and the ONLY time I ever met one with “face-blindness” –the one single time—was a man I knew who was very disgusted with this side-effect after having SHOCK THERAPY.

he confided in me that would walk up to people and say hi! to them, only to realize he didn’t even know them.  that those he cared about, would look like strangers.  it was very distressing for him, but he continued with the treatments.

shock therapy appears beneficial due to a lowered incidence in suicide attempts.  verses the drug-treatments that are known to increase the risks for suicide.  and why in later years, shock therapy has had a resurgence, seeing as most doctors prefer to avoid the lawsuits.  apparently, though – one of the more obvious side-effects from shock therapy, wants to stay in the closet.

which means we are having neurosurgeons go on TV and state how NORMAL it is for ‘some’ people to have “face-blindness.”  that the NUMBER they have for that, is 1 in 50.  that’s a LOT of people.  you’re talking, in the United State alone, over 6 million cases of congenital face-blindness.  it’s a form of brain-damage.

honestly, if “face-blindness” were that common, you would have support groups peppered around like AA.  you would have “face-blindness pride” parades.  you would have a person in every church group, every school and classroom – with a stigma and facing taunts for their “slip-ups.” 1 in 50 is NOT a small number. 

the national mental health association reports that 20 million suffer from depression.  is it conceivable that 1/3 of depression patients will seek neuroconvulsion therapy?  (or what they are now calling “neurostimulation therapy” to give it a new spitshine)

well I guess that’s what they’re looking for.  at the tune of 100,000 new shock-therapy patients a year (as of 2009)*, we should hit that 6 million mark in no time flat.

*report of resurging popularity of shock treatment, by MSN - http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26044935/ns/health-mental_health/

excerpt, on known side-effects of shock therapy:

Long-term

The greater concern is that of the long-term side effects, particularly memory problems. Surveys conducted by scientists and clinical staff usually find a low level of severe side-effects, maybe around 1 in 10.  User-led surveys have found much more, maybe in half of those having ECT. Some surveys conducted by those strongly against ECT say there are severe side-effects in everyone.

Some difficulties with memory are probably present in everyone receiving ECT.  Most people find these memories return when the course of ECT has finished and a few weeks have passed. However, some people do complain that their memory has been permanently affected, that their memories never come back. It is not clear how much of this is due to the ECT and how much is due to the depressive illness or other factors.

Some people have complained of more distressing experiences, such as feeling that their personalities have changed, that they have lost skills or that they are no longer the person they were before ECT. They say that they have never got over the experience and feel permanently harmed.

What seems to be generally agreed is that the more ECT someone is given, the more it is likely to affect their memory.

~http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mentalhealthinfoforall/treatments/ect.aspx

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