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Shock: Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy

October 15, 2007
Kitty Dukakis writer
Michael Dukakis 1988 US presidential nominee (D) [homepage]
Larry Tye former health reporter, Boston Globe [homepage]

Kitty Dukakis describes her extended battle with severe depression and the success she has in recovery based on electroconvulsive therapy.

After suffering for decades from severe depression, substance abuse problems, and hospitalizations, Kitty Dukakis now credits her recovery to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Opponents of ECT would like to see the treatment banned on the basis of its common side effects, including memory loss. Many patients say these are a small price to pay for control over a disabling condition. Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis and journalist Larry Tye join Kitty Dukakis for a discussion of her book about her experiences, and on how this medical treatment, along with the support of family and loved ones, can potentially help individuals through the horrors of clinical depression.

Medical Treatment
WGBH
Ford Hall Forum
Image of Shock
Author: Larry Tye, Kitty Dukakis
Publisher: Avery (2007)
Binding: Paperback, 289 pages
Image of How to Get Into Politics--And Why: A Reader
Author: Paul Simon, Michael Dukakis
Publisher: Great Source Education Group Inc (2006)
Binding: Paperback, 146 pages
Image of SATCHEL: The Life and Times of an American Legend
Author: Larry Tye
Publisher: Random House (2009)
Binding: Hardcover, 416 pages
Image of Rising from the Rails: Pullman Porters and the Making of the Black Middle Class
Author: Larry Tye
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks (2005)
Binding: Paperback, 352 pages
Image of The Father of Spin: Edward L. Bernays and The Birth of Public Relations
Author: Larry Tye
Publisher: Picador (2002)
Binding: Paperback, 320 pages
Image of Home Lands: Portraits of the New Jewish Diaspora
Author: Larry Tye
Publisher: Picador (2002)
Binding: Paperback, 360 pages

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