Psychiatria Danubina, Vol. 24. No. 1., 2012.
Short communication, Note
ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY ON HUNGARIAN WEBSITES
Rozália Takács
; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
Gabor S. Ungvari
; The University of Notre Dame Australia / Marian Centre, Perth, Australia
Gábor Gazdag
orcid.org/0000-0002-6914-8041
; Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Faculty of Medicine, Semmelweis University, Budapest, Hungary
Abstract
Background: Although there are several similarities in terms of their equipment and the way they are performed, the social
perception and public attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and electric cardioversion (ECV) is entirely different. The
aim of this study was to assess and compare the information on Hungarian Internet sites on ECT and ECV with respect to their
depiction and acceptance by the public.
Subjects and methods: An Internet search was undertaken with the Google search engine using the terms „ECT”,
„electroconvulsive therapy”, „electroshock”, „defibrillator” and „electric cardioversion”. The search was restricted to information
published in the Hungarian language from 1 January 2000 to 31 December 2010. All communications were classified into negative,
neutral and positive groups depending on their attitude towards the aforementioned treatment methods. Professional or nonprofessional
categories were also distinguished.
Results: The total number of communications, which appeared between 2000 and 2010 and contained one of the search words
for ECT was 66. The majority of them portrayed ECT in a negative (24; 36.4%) or neutral (25; 37.9%) fashion. Most of the websites
(139; 95.2%) related to ECV were reflected positive (120; 82.2%) and neutral opinions (19; 13.0%).
Conclusions: Hungarian-language Internet sites mainly view ECT as negative or neutral in contrast to ECV cardioversion,
which has almost entirely a positive reputation. Although the effectiveness of both therapies is equally well established, their public
image as manifested on the Internet differs significantly. This may have a major impact on the frequency of their use.
Keywords
electroconvulsive therapy; ECT; electric cardioversion; ECV; Internet
Hrčak ID:
106208
URI
Publication date:
25.3.2012.
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