// The major recent enhancements to ECT technique are: Right Unilateral electrode placement. The cognitive side-effects of ECT such as retrograde and anterograde amnesia are significantly less compared to Bilateral electrode placement. Brief pulse stimulus currents. The characteristics of the electrical stimulus affect the effectiveness and cognitive outcomes of the seizure. Sine wave stimuli have been replaced with rectangular pulses on modern ECT devices, leading to a substantial decrease in cognitive effects Improved an­esthesia techniques makes it possible to regulate the cardiac output during ECT when necessary The “dose titra­tion” technique to individualize treatment stimulus dosing The discovery of the dose-response relationship between electrical .....read more »

Watch If You Forget @ Yahoo! Video A young woman and her mother on this video about ECT. Very impressive story about having ECT, side-effects and how she improved on ECT. She also has a website The Amazing Rachel Star Hey, I’m Rachel Star! I am a lot of things: stunt girl, producer, visionary, rapper, writer, mastermind, a cuddly form of evil, poet, and schizophrenic. I work with different TV shows around the world and I love creating and working on all forms of entertainment. Related posts: Another Hands On Experience with ECT ECT Hands On Experience Blogging About ECT, Hands on Experience ..read more »

Compared to 1999 and 2002 data from a recent survey in 2006 show an overall decline in the number of ECT applications and the number of patients treated in the United Kingdom over the 7-year period between 1999 and 2006. An increasing proportion of patients were treated under the Mental Health Act (1983). Clinical implications The number of ECT clinics is likely to continue to decrease and psychiatrists may have decreasing experience of treating patients with ECT. In The Netherlands there is an opposing trend. In the past decades the number of clinics preforming ECT has increased and the number of patients being .....read more »

The last systematic review of this topic was in 1994. According to this recent review ECT does seem to be effective for treating mental illness during pregnancy and the risks of adverse events are low. It should be considered in pregnant women with severe mental illness such as psychotic symptoms, catatonia or strong suicidal urges. Why is this important? The most common mental illness during pregnancy is major depressive disorder. It is estimated that 9% of pregnant patients suffer from major depressive disorder Untreated depression is linked to poor maternal and neonatal outcomes including poor weight gain during pregnancy, higher risk of .....read more »

I had the pleasure and honor to be interviewed by Merely Me on MyDepressionConnection.com, one of the bloggers from HealthCentral. See writes for at least three blogs that I could find. Mostly about depression and Multiple Sclerosis. She did a great job, must read a lot about ECT and relating subjects. You can read her profile here. Her blog about Multiple Sclerosis is at MultipleSclerosisCentral.com. She is on my blogroll with her personal blog because she writes personal and magnificent about difficult subjects. Check it outRelated posts: Researchblogging.org, the interview Dr Shock is Back Electroshock (ECT) Round Up ..read more »

The most recent hands on experience with ECT and it's side-effects. There is an excellent lecture by a doctor who has had electroconvulsive therapy: Sherwin Nuland, the surgeon and author, talks about the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression. Midway through, his story turns personal. It’s a moving and deeply felt talk about relief, redemption, second chances You can view another 9 video's on ECT in a recent post. All video's were selected by the author of this blog because he finds them to be genuine and true. This blog also has a post about 11 websites .....read more »

Dr Shock will be in Edinburgh Scotland the next couple of days. Attending the Scottish ECT Accreditation Network Meeting from SEAN. Will try to keep you posted but posts can be irregular the coming week.Related posts: Dramatic Decrease in ECT use in Edinburgh 400% increase in antidepressant prescriptions in Scotland Prescriptions of antidepressants rises in Scotland part 2 ..read more »

ECT: The Story of Two Women from Laura Piraino on Vimeo. A documentary style animation exploring the experiences of two women with clinical depression and modern electroconvulsive therapy. Animation By Laura Piraino. Music By Ben Cleek. An incredible good visualization of someone suffering from psychotic depression. Impressive animations.Related posts: Shock Documentary The eye opening story about one of the most controversial medical treatments in history Pharmacology in animations and video’s Mass Media and notions about women’s depressive illness ..read more »

A superb location (the Grand Marina), in a beautiful town (Barcelona) full of sunshine (31°). A perfect setting for the 3rd Annual Meeting of EFFECT. Highly interested and highly interesting clinicians from all over the world attended the meeting to share experience and gain knowledge. Read the program and a short summary of the lectures on Electroconvulsive therapyRelated posts: 10 Video’s on Electroconvulsive Therapy ECT online, an English website about electroshock or ECT Another Hands On Experience with ECT ..read more »

Electroshock or Electro convulsive therapy is often depicted negatively in Hollywood films. It encourages stigmatization and discourages patients from its use. So if your About To Have ECT? Fine, but Don’t Watch It in the Movies: The Sorry Portrayal of ECT in Film. You can read more about electroshock in Hollywood productions in this prior post on this blog. If you want some information on video from patients while they are actually undergoing this treatment or want to see an excellent lecture about ECT please have a look at: 9 Videos on ECT. In newspapers when comparing newspaper reports on ECT and .....read more »