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. 2025;18(1):1.
doi: 10.1007/s12152-024-09573-2. Epub 2024 Oct 16.

Is the Treatment Worse than the Disease?: Key Stakeholders' Views about the Use of Psychiatric Electroceutical Interventions for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Laura Y Cabrera  1 , Robyn Bluhm  2 , Aaron M McCright  3 , Eric D Achtyes  4
Affiliations

Is the Treatment Worse than the Disease?: Key Stakeholders' Views about the Use of Psychiatric Electroceutical Interventions for Treatment-Resistant Depression

Laura Y Cabrera et al. Neuroethics. 2025.

Abstract

Psychiatric electroceutical interventions (PEIs) use electrical or magnetic stimulation to treat psychiatric conditions. For depression therapy, PEIs include both approved treatment modalities, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), and experimental neurotechnologies, such as deep brain stimulation (DBS) and adaptive brain implants (ABIs). We present results from a survey-based experiment in which members of four relevant stakeholder groups (psychiatrists, patients with depression, caregivers of adults with depression, and the general public) assessed whether treatment with one of four PEIs (ECT, rTMS, DBS, or ABIs) was better or worse than living with treatment-resistant depression (TRD) and then provided a narrative explanation for their assessment. Overall, the prevalence of many narrative themes differed substantially by stakeholder group-with psychiatrists typically offering different reasons for their assessment than non-clinicians-but much less so by PEI modality. A large majority of all participants viewed their assigned PEI as better than living with TRD, with their reasons being a mix of positive views about the treatment and negative views about TRD. The minority of all participants who viewed their assigned PEI as worse than living with TRD tended to express negative affect toward it as well as emphasize its riskiness, negative side effects, and, to a lesser extent, its invasiveness. The richness of these narrative explanations enabled us to put in context and add depth to key patterns seen in recent survey-based research on PEIs.

Supplementary information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12152-024-09573-2.

Keywords: Depression; Neuromodulation; Perceptions; Stakeholder; Survey; Vignette experiment.

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Conflict of interest statement

Competing InterestsLC, RB, and AM have no conflicts of interest to declare. EA has received research support from the following entities in the preceding 12 months: Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Janssen, Karuna, Neurocrine Biosciences, Teva, and the Vanguard Research Group. EA also has served on advisory boards or consulted with Alkermes, Boehringer-Ingelheim, Clinical Care Options, CMEology, CME Outfitters, and VML Health.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Percentage of Participants Reporting How Treatment Compares to Living with Treatment-Resistant Depression by Stakeholder Group and Assigned PEI Modality
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Percentages of Participants Reporting Negative Attitude toward Depression Themes and Positive Attitude toward Assigned PEI Themes by Perceived Comparison of Their Assigned PEI with TRD
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Percentages of Participants Reporting Cautionary or Negative Attitude toward Assigned PEI Themes by Perceived Comparison of Their Assigned PEI with TRD
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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