The campaign, which aims to try to prevent future tragedies, may be dashed as a government-appointed expert group advise against a change in the law in relation to family involvement and the doctor-patient relationship, writes Eoin English

A modern legislative framework can lead to improved mental health services and hopefully, a significant cultural shift, Mental Health Minister Kathleen Lynch writes

The Government is to fast-track legislation ending the practice of administering electric shock therapy to mental health patients even if that patient has capacity and refuses the treatment.

Electro-convulsive therapy was used 2,152 times on 244 mental health patients in just 12 months, according to the Mental Health Commission (MHC).

A PSYCHIATRIC hospital serving a major city is unfit for purpose and should be closed down, experts have warned.

ON behalf of the Irish Institute of Mental Health Nursing I would like to thank the makers of the Behind the Walls documentaries for bringing important issues regarding mental health services in this country to public awareness.

THE use of force within the mental health services whereby people can be incarcerated and treated against their will must be stopped.

THE family of a 40-year-old man being involuntarily detained in a Co Kildare psychiatric unit have claimed they have been told they cannot access his medical records because they “went public” with his story.

A FAMILY are desperately seeking to stop the forced administration of electric shock therapy on a 40-year-old man who is being involuntarily detained at Lakeview mental health unit in Naas, Co Kildare.

ELECTRIC shock therapy prescribing in Ireland is no different to other European and North American countries, a new study reveals.

A CONTENTIOUS Seanad vote on the administration of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was last night adjourned without an expected vote on the issue.

THE forced use of electric shock treatment — Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) —on mentally ill people is to be debated in the Seanad this week.

PSYCHIATRISTS in certain areas of the country are “ECT enthusiasts” who are using the treatment in cases where alternatives could be considered, it has been claimed.

THE use of electric shock therapy (ECT) in people with a mental illness should be “banished to the historical rubbish bin” of previous treatments thought to be effective.

YOU bear good tidings in the form of comments from psychiatrist Pat Bracken, director of West Cork mental health services (July 20) At last, a creative and authentic voice for ethical and mature mental health service delivery.

I WAS interested to read the letter by Fiona Crowley, of Amnesty International Ireland (Irish Examiner letters, January 3), in which she outlined the organisation’s position on the use of forced psychiatric interventions involving electroconvulsive ‘therapy’ (ECT).

I WISH to respond to Seán Fleming who states that people can be “forced to… undergo electroconvulsive ‘therapy’ ” (ECT), and that “human rights organisations like Amnesty International refuse to condemn this” (Irish Examiner letters, December 5).

DUBLIN Tourism chief executive Frank Magee has been elected president of European Cities Tourism (ECT) at a general assembly held in Helsinki.

Patients in Turkish psychiatric hospitals are held down and given electric shock treatment without anaesthesia, a Washington-based human rights group has said, calling the practice a form of torture and urging the European Union to demand an end to it.

THE delay in establishing tribunals to examine if psychiatric patients detained against their will are fit for release has been criticised by the former inspector of mental hospitals.

A STUDY of mental health services in Galway has recommended further research into Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT) to justify its continued use in psychiatric hospitals.