A groundbreaking study from the University of Houston is challenging the long-held belief that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is safe, reigniting calls from the Citizens Commission on Human Rights International (CCHR) for a ban on the procedure. The study, presented at the 2026 IEEE EMC+SIPI Symposium, analyzed a high-resolution 3D model of the head to track the path of electric current during ECT. Contrary to the long-standing “shunting theory” that the scalp harmlessly diverts 90–95% of the current away from the brain, the findings show that 82.5% of the current flows directly through the cerebrospinal fluid and brain, with only 1.5% passing through the scalp.
The implications are significant. One expert involved in the study noted that electrical energy converts to heat inside the brain, and higher currents produce more heat, which can cause temporary injury, permanent damage, or even cell death. Additionally, electricity can create pores in cell membranes through electroporation, overwhelming the brain's repair mechanisms and leading to cell death. This suggests ECT poses risks of brain-cell damage from both heating and electroporation, contradicting the safety claims that have persisted for 80 years.
Professor John Read, a leading ECT researcher, draws parallels between the effects of ECT and closed-brain injury, noting documented changes in the brain after ECT that are similar to traumatic brain injury. CCHR has long demanded a ban on ECT and argues that the FDA's 2018 decision to lower the risk classification of ECT devices must be overturned. Under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act, the FDA has the authority to ban any device posing an “unreasonable and substantial risk” of injury.
In the U.S., an estimated 100,000 people undergo ECT annually, and CCHR has documented cases of it being administered to teenagers and even children as young as five. Jan Eastgate, president of CCHR International, states, “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.”
CCHR has been instrumental in securing bans on ECT for minors in several jurisdictions, including California (1976), Texas (1993), Western Australia (2014), and the Australian Capital Territory. Ireland banned ECT for anyone 18 and under in May 2026. The World Health Organization declared in 2005 that there are no indications for ECT on minors and that it “should be prohibited through legislation.”
Survivors describe the devastating impact. Eastgate, who received ECT as a teenager after an undiagnosed thyroid condition was mislabeled as depression, recalls waking with searing head pain and failing to recognize her mother, with long-term memory loss. Paris Jackson has spoken publicly about undergoing nine “painful” ECT sessions, experiencing severe head pain and amnesia. Utah Rep. Jake Sawyer, who received ECT in 2018, reports long-term damage and memory loss, saying, “I've lost many, many, many years of memories.”
Eastgate concludes, “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.” The scientific evidence now supports what many survivors have long claimed, and CCHR's renewed call for a ban is backed by a growing body of research and international human rights standards.
