APA Dispatch: Again, I Agree With Scientology*

*probably not in the way they intended

"Hey, Hey, APA,

How May Kids Did You Shock Today?"

—Chant by Scientology Employed Actors

The Church of Scientology* Protestors were here outside The American Psychiatric Association Annual Meeting, although vastly in fewer in number than prior years.

They were, intentionally or not, asking crucial questions. Their chant asks a question, rhetorically. But there is an empirical answer to “how many kids did you [provide effective interventions for] today?”

And the answer, sadly, is no where near enough.

Available literature across the globe suggests that ECT is infrequently used in children and adolescents. In Western countries, children and adolescents receive 0.2%–1.5 % of all the ECTs

This is a tiny fraction of the roughly 100,000 cases a year.

It’s not enough. Similarly, it seemed to be not enough “protestors” to make their complaints compellingly?

Scientology had around 45,000 in 1991.

Today they have in the neighborhood of 10,000- 20,000. Globally.

Similarly, there has been a significant decrease in the ability to access Neuromodulation via ECT in youth (in this Canadian sample:)

The cohort included 53,174 inpatients experiencing 75,429 admissions, with 6,899 admissions involving ECT (9.2%). Among demographic factors, age was most associated with ECT—younger adults had reduced (OR = 0.30, 95%CI, 0.24 to 0.37; 18 to 25 years).