Event Date:
Thursday, May 5, 2022 - 1:00pm to 2:00pm
May 5, 2022 | 1pm (CT)
Laura Cabrera, PhD - Penn State
Is the treatment worse than the disease?: Ethical concerns and attitudes towards psychiatric electroceutical interventions
Abstract:
In recent years, electroceuticals have gained increasing attention as treatments for neurological and mental health disorders. Electroceuticals have both the potential to alleviate devastating conditions and the capacity to create unforeseen and unwanted consequences, raising a variety of ethical concerns. In this seminar I present results from a national survey, which used an embedded experiment to assess attitudes and ethical concerns regarding electroceuticals used for depression across four different stakeholder groups: psychiatrists, patients, caregivers and general public. We found notable differences in attitudes and ethical concerns by type of electroceutical and by stakeholder group. TMS was viewed most positively among all groups, and psychiatrists had overall the most positive affect towards all modalities of electroceuticals. Limited evidence of the treatment’s safety was the most important ethical concern to the use of electroceuticals, reported by non-clinicians and across different modalities. Psychiatrists top ethical concern was “patient not getting treatment when it would actually help them”. Our findings support the needs to address misconceptions and to better address ethical concerns identified by different stakeholder groups. Discussion will include the implications for the responsible clinical use and development of electroceuticals.
Bio:
Dr. Cabrera is an Associate Professor of Neuroethics at the Center for Neural Engineering, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University. She is the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Neuroethics, and a Research Associate at the Rock Ethics Institute. Dr. Cabrera is an honorific member of the Mexican Neuroethics Society, chair of the IEEE Brain Neuroethics Subcommittee, and member of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) Emergent Issues Task Force. Dr. Cabrera's interests focus on the ethical and societal implications of neurotechnologies used for treatment as well as for enhancement purposes.Dr. Cabrera is an Associate Professor of Neuroethics at the Center for Neural Engineering, Department of Engineering Science and Mechanics at Penn State University. She is the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Chair in Neuroethics, and a Research Associate at the Rock Ethics Institute. Dr. Cabrera is an honorific member of the Mexican Neuroethics Society, chair of the IEEE Brain Neuroethics Subcommittee, and member of the International Neuroethics Society (INS) Emergent Issues Task Force. Dr. Cabrera's interests focus on the ethical and societal implications of neurotechnologies used for treatment as well as for enhancement purposes.
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