Excellent information in this video about Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) from Medicana life. Haven’t written about ECT for a while, hope you find all the information on this site useful. The information about ECT is carefully selected by me, a psychiatrist with special interest in ECT and depression. Related posts on ECT can be found down this blog post.
From all the newspapers in the last seven years in British national newspapers about 348 mentioned ECT or electroconvulsive therapy or electroshock and it’s other synonyms. Overall 111 articles (31,9%) portrayed ECT negatively, 198 articles were neutral and 39 were positive. A substantial comment on ECT was published in 44 (12,6%) articles. The negative comments (14/16) were published in liberal newspapers whereas most positive comments about ECT (10/12) were published in conservative newspapers.
Overall most depictions of ECT were neutral, with smaller numbers of negative (111) and positive (39) representations. Not bad compared to the depiction of ECT in Hollywood movies.
Euba R, & Crugel M (2009). The depiction of electroconvulsive therapy in the British press. The journal of ECT, 25 (4), 265-9 PMID: 19444139
The best information in health care is from patients who have been there. Those who underwent treatment, suffer from a certain illness. It’s the kind of hands on experience physicians can’t deliver. On this blog I have collected some examples of these “hands on experiences”. Some recent posts were written about ECT by them with hands on experience.
It irritates me, (and does not help me explain potential treatments to concerned family members), when the media, either by negative portrayal or by leaving positive and informative information about ECT out of stories about depression treatments, subtly dismisses or devalues an effective and proven helpful treatment for resistant/refractory depression.
Besides here opinion on ECT she also writes about treatment resistant depression. Rightfully she points to the fact that despite all the treatment options sometimes depression is not a treatable disease. Read her post on this topic here….
Both of these books are not long (about 100 pages) but more detailed than much of the information I gathered on the web. These books are definitely more clinical in nature, but they are easy to understand and I think these details help you be more calm when you go through treatment.
Almost a year later and I’m still wondering if E.C.T. was right for my particular case. Given the information we had at the time, I have to believe it was worth a shot.
Mental health Update discusses a recent article: Rayner, Lauren … [et al] – The patient perspective of the consent process and side effects of electroconvulsive therapy Journal of Mental Health October 2009, 18(5), 379-388. It’s a survey of 389 people who had had ECT focusing on the consent process and side effects of the treatment. Interesting read.
I know that by the time we’re considering ECT, we are barely able to make it through the day, but I think it’s better to ask and know upfront what turns your life could take post-ECT rather than be surprised by something that’s already been documented that it might happen.
If you experience any physical discomfort after ECT, such as a really bad headache or a sore throat/jaw pain, you should let your doctor know. S/he may be able to adjust your mouth guard or give you something for the pain.
Found another excellent blog of someone undergoing ECT. Besides writing about his or her experiences with ECT there are also posts on other topics as well such as depression, mental health rsources etc.
ECT lessons I’ve learned #4, write them down:
When I went through ECT the first time around, I wrote down my passwords to the various online accounts that I have on a sheet of paper. This advice came from the book Shock by Kitty Dukakis and Larry Tye. It’s a great safeguard measure, and it was probably good to have my memory refreshed about those passwords anyway.
Keep a record of what you did each day during your ECT series. I think my main reason why I was able to remember a lot of the events surrounding my ECT treatments is because I wrote stuff down. Even just writing down your mood may be helpful in tracking how you are doing.
If there’s something you’re supposed to remember (even if you remember at that moment), write it down.
Another blog written by ECT/Psychiatric RN: ECT Today, has only 2 posts but they are very good, one is a FAQ post, hope he or she will continu writing this excellent information.
Related posts on this blog:
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.
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.
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.
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