Pathological fracture of tibia in patient with corticosteroid-dependent psoriasis treated by functional bracing.

Despite having consented -to ECT, a patient often has limited knowledge of the procedure. Doctors are, perhaps, reticent about telling patients the details; these results, however, suggest that increased knowledge does not necessarily increase fear. Spending time allaying fears about the anaesthetic would seem fruitful, since this was the most commonly feared aspect. One-third of patients mentioned other patients as a source of information, and, although this proportion is not as high as in an American study,3 it points to the importance of the ward subculture. Those patients aware of the publicity had a significantly increased knowledge of ECT, other than its duration. There was, however, only a slight, non-significant increase in the proportion fearing each aspect and no difference in the order of aspvects feared. Only -one patient regarded herself as affected by the publicity. The figures are closely similar to those of Gomez4 derived before the publicity-further evidence of lack of effect. These results suggest that the concern of the medical profession was not justified, even though a television programme "is conceived primarily as journalism and only secondarily as a public service."5 The media must, however, be aware of their responsibilities in relation to ECT.