A forthcoming study from the University of Houston is challenging a foundational assumption about the safety of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), a psychiatric treatment that has been in use for over 80 years. The research, which analyzed a high-resolution three-dimensional digital model of the head, found that contrary to longstanding claims, the scalp does not 'shunt' a significant portion of the electrical current away from the brain. Instead, the study indicates that 82.5% of the total current flows through the cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) and brain, with only 1.5% flowing through the scalp. This directly contradicts the 'shunting theory' that psychiatrists have used to argue that the 0.9 amps of electric current used in ECT is 'buffered' and therefore safe.
The findings, set to be presented at the IEEE EMC+SIPI 2026 Symposium, have significant implications. According to one expert involved in the study, the electrical energy converts into heat inside the brain, and higher current produces more heat. Excessive temperature can cause temporary injury, permanent damage, or even cell death. Additionally, electricity can create pores in cell membranes through a process known as electroporation. When voltage is high enough, these holes overwhelm the brain's repair mechanisms, allowing toxic material to flood in and causing cell death. Thus, ECT risks brain-cell damage from both heating and electroporation.
Professor John Read, a leading ECT researcher, draws a parallel between the effects of ECT and closed-brain injury, noting documented changes in the brain after ECT that are very similar to traumatic brain injury. This aligns with decades of patient reports and research documenting memory loss, cognitive deficits, and other harms.
The Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) has long called for a ban on ECT, and this new evidence has prompted renewed demands. CCHR points to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) 2018 decision to lower the risk classification of ECT devices, which they argue should be overturned. Under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. § 360f), the FDA has the authority to ban any device posing an 'unreasonable and substantial risk' of injury. CCHR argues that ECT devices meet this threshold, given the accumulating evidence of brain damage, memory loss, and other serious risks.
Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International, stated, 'Electroshock devices meet the FDA threshold, which need to be revisited. Decades of research document brain damage, memory loss, cognitive deficits, and mortality, while regulators have never required evidence of long-term safety or effectiveness.'
The issue is particularly urgent for minors. CCHR helped secure the first bans on electroshock for minors in California (1976) and Texas (1993). The World Health Organization stated in 2005 that there are no indications for ECT on minors and that it 'should be prohibited through legislation.' Several jurisdictions have taken action: Western Australia banned it for under-14s in 2014, the Australian Capital Territory for under-12s, and Ireland banned it for anyone 18 and under in May 2026.
Survivors' accounts underscore the human toll. Eastgate herself received ECT as a teenager after an undiagnosed underactive thyroid was mislabeled as depression. She described waking up with searing head pain, failing to recognize her mother, and later losing memories of friends and parts of her education. Proper medical treatment for her thyroid resolved her symptoms, but memory recovery took years.
Recently, Paris Jackson publicly discussed undergoing nine 'painful' ECT sessions in three weeks, experiencing severe head pain and amnesia. Utah Rep. Jake Sawyer, who received ECT in 2018, reported long-term damage and memory loss, saying, 'My vocabulary is nowhere near what it used to be, and making new memories is vastly more difficult than it was before.' He has called for a ban.
CCHR, established in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and Dr. Thomas Szasz, has played a key role in mental health reform. The organization has testified before the Committee for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), which opposes forced detainment or treatment, including electroshock. The World Health Organization has also warned of ECT's health risks, including brain damage, cardiovascular complications, and memory impairment, and has stated that in the absence of consent in adults, ECT should be considered abuse or torture.
Eastgate concluded, 'Electroshocking individuals, especially after failed psychiatric drug treatments and institutionalization that deprives individuals of their autonomy, liberty and the right to an undamaged body and life, is an unnecessary practice that patients need to be protected from. All electroshock methods for all ages should be prohibited.'
