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Beyond Blind Optimism and Unfounded Fears : Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression

Johansson, Veronica LU ; Garwicz, Martin LU ; Kanje, Martin LU ; Röcklinsberg, Helena LU ; Schouenborg, Jens LU ; Tingström, Anders LU and Görman, Ulf LU (2013) In Neuroethics 6(3). p.457-471
Abstract
The introduction of new medical treatments based on invasive technologies has often been surrounded by both hopes and fears. Hope, since a new intervention can create new opportunities either in terms of providing a cure for the disease or impairment at hand; or as alleviation of symptoms. Fear, since an invasive treatment involving implanting a medical device can result in unknown complications such as hardware failure and undesirable medical consequences. However, hopes and fears may also arise due to the cultural embeddedness of technology, where a therapy due to ethical, social, political and religious concerns could be perceived as either a blessing or a threat. While Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for treatment resistant depression... (More)
The introduction of new medical treatments based on invasive technologies has often been surrounded by both hopes and fears. Hope, since a new intervention can create new opportunities either in terms of providing a cure for the disease or impairment at hand; or as alleviation of symptoms. Fear, since an invasive treatment involving implanting a medical device can result in unknown complications such as hardware failure and undesirable medical consequences. However, hopes and fears may also arise due to the cultural embeddedness of technology, where a therapy due to ethical, social, political and religious concerns could be perceived as either a blessing or a threat. While Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for treatment resistant depression (TRD) is still in its cradle, it is important to be proactive and try to scrutinize both surfacing hopes and fears. Patients will not benefit if a promising treatment is banned or avoided due to unfounded fears, nor will they benefit if DBS is used without scrutinizing the arguments which call for caution. Hence blind optimism is equally troublesome. We suggest that specificity, both in terms of a detailed account of relevant scientific concerns as well as ethical considerations, could be a way to analyse expressed concerns regarding DBS for TRD. This approach is particularly fruitful when applied to hopes and fears evoked by DBS for TRD, since it can reveal if our comprehension of DBS for TRD suffer from various biases which may remain unnoticed at first glance. We suggest that such biases exist, albeit a further analysis is needed to explore this issue in full. (Less)
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author
; ; ; ; ; and
organization
publishing date
type
Contribution to journal
publication status
published
subject
keywords
Time, Nonmaleficence, Beneficence, Ethics, Depression, Deep brain stimulation
in
Neuroethics
volume
6
issue
3
pages
457 - 471
publisher
Springer
external identifiers
  • wos:000326604300004
  • scopus:84887999642
ISSN
1874-5504
DOI
10.1007/s12152-011-9112-x
language
English
LU publication?
yes
additional info
The information about affiliations in this record was updated in December 2015. The record was previously connected to the following departments: Neurophysiology (013212004), Centre for Theology and Religious Studies (015017000), Department of Experimental Medical Science (013210000), Department of Biology (000016100), Molecular Psychiatry Unit (013024100), Functional Zoology (432112239)
id
e75d096e-0ef8-40cd-82de-19ef81196d28 (old id 1973885)
date added to LUP
2016-04-01 10:33:53
date last changed
2022-10-07 10:37:35
@article{e75d096e-0ef8-40cd-82de-19ef81196d28,
  abstract     = {{The introduction of new medical treatments based on invasive technologies has often been surrounded by both hopes and fears. Hope, since a new intervention can create new opportunities either in terms of providing a cure for the disease or impairment at hand; or as alleviation of symptoms. Fear, since an invasive treatment involving implanting a medical device can result in unknown complications such as hardware failure and undesirable medical consequences. However, hopes and fears may also arise due to the cultural embeddedness of technology, where a therapy due to ethical, social, political and religious concerns could be perceived as either a blessing or a threat. While Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) for treatment resistant depression (TRD) is still in its cradle, it is important to be proactive and try to scrutinize both surfacing hopes and fears. Patients will not benefit if a promising treatment is banned or avoided due to unfounded fears, nor will they benefit if DBS is used without scrutinizing the arguments which call for caution. Hence blind optimism is equally troublesome. We suggest that specificity, both in terms of a detailed account of relevant scientific concerns as well as ethical considerations, could be a way to analyse expressed concerns regarding DBS for TRD. This approach is particularly fruitful when applied to hopes and fears evoked by DBS for TRD, since it can reveal if our comprehension of DBS for TRD suffer from various biases which may remain unnoticed at first glance. We suggest that such biases exist, albeit a further analysis is needed to explore this issue in full.}},
  author       = {{Johansson, Veronica and Garwicz, Martin and Kanje, Martin and Röcklinsberg, Helena and Schouenborg, Jens and Tingström, Anders and Görman, Ulf}},
  issn         = {{1874-5504}},
  keywords     = {{Time; Nonmaleficence; Beneficence; Ethics; Depression; Deep brain stimulation}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{3}},
  pages        = {{457--471}},
  publisher    = {{Springer}},
  series       = {{Neuroethics}},
  title        = {{Beyond Blind Optimism and Unfounded Fears : Deep Brain Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression}},
  url          = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s12152-011-9112-x}},
  doi          = {{10.1007/s12152-011-9112-x}},
  volume       = {{6}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}