"Personality Change" With ECT and TMS: Discussion in the Context of DBS

Out on Pubmed, from authors at Columbia University, is this paper:

Changes in Personality, Mood, and Behavior with TMS and ECT: Current Knowledge and Challenges.

Verne ZJ, Zabinski JS.AJOB Neurosci. 2023 Jul-Sep;14(3):325-327. doi: 10.1080/21507740.2023.2243870.PMID: 37682665 



The pdf is here.

And from the text:


I wanted to read this to make sure there was not too much gratuitous bad-mouthing of ECT. There is only a bit, and this is mostly an interesting thought piece. It is in the context of several articles in this journal discussing the issue of possible personality change with DBS. Since DBS is an invasive procedure with ongoing effects on deep brain structures, the possibility of "pathological personality change" is more relevant. For ECT, "personality change" has been used by the anti-ECT crowd as a dog whistle for their claims of "brain damage."
As most of us know from experience, what actually typically happens is that the ECT patient who is severely depressed returns to their pre-morbid personality when their episode of depression is successfully treated. 
I would be pleased to hear blog readers comments about this article.

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