‘Well, strictly speaking, the procedure is a form of brain damage.’
............ Doctor,
Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
The doctor I was describing was a consultant, yes; a second opinion was sought from another consultant too.
As regards counsel, I think you're right insofar as good counsel is really difficult to find. However, I trust the friend in question (who herself has lots of indirect experience in the area of mentla health), and, as regards the senior nurse she is friends with, I can't see who else I would be able to trust more than someone who sees the results of ECT every day in their job. It is confusing and scary, but I've got to lay a modicum of trust somewhere.
Opinions of the kind you allude to above are extremely dangerous. It is utterly
frightening to believe that ECT is still being actively practiced in supposedly civilized societies in 2007.
Who are these people? People who are passively and ignorantly colluding in institutionalised torture. There is a vast research literature on the adverse and chronic effects, including irreversible brain damage, of ECT, a brutal mechanism of social control.
"
Trust me, I'm a Doctor!" Hideous.
On the other hand, for certain extreme afflictions, including Parkinson's Disease, Tourette Syndrome, Chronic Epilepsy, and Catatonic Depression, the surgical procedure of Deep Brain Stimulation shows promise, but again, it merely relieves symptoms, and the neuropsychiatric side-effects can be equally disturbing (relapse including apathy, hallucinations, compulsive gambling, cognitive dysfunction, and depression).
[And on another - wider - note,
The Shock Doctrine by Alfonso Cuarón and Naomi Klein]