Discourse analysis and the experience of ECT

Abstract

The authors present a discourse analysis of an influential paper on the experience of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). By focusing on how patients are construed in this article, they deconstruct theways in which the case for ECTas ‘helpful and not particularly frightening’ is made. They argue that, as with all academic writing, a discourse of scientific objectivity can be used to privilege certain views and promote certain interests.