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ladolcevita
Casual Contributor

ECT Treatment

Hi there,

My aunt has been suffering from severe depression, anxiety and more recently suicidal thoughts for the last 8 years. her conditions have become drastically worse in the last little while. She has taken a leave from her job as general counsel at a major company - she tried ECT treatment and stopped after 2 sessions. She experienced memory loss instantly and was terrified that if she continues the treatment she would no longer be able to be the highly functioning proffessional she is. 

 

I have promised her to try and find someone she can talk to who has done the treatment and is still able to function in their proffession. I know this may be a long shot but i thought i would reach out here with the hopes of finding someone. 

 

help? 

15 REPLIES 15

Re: ECT Treatment

@ladolcevita Hi ladolcevita and welcome to the forums :). I can only say that a friend of  my mother's had severe depression and decided upon ect much to the unease of us all.  He went into hospital and stayed for some time doing group therapies and ect and came out so much better from it all. He is like a changed person. I should mention this person is very bright and ran a major organization for some time now retired. He is no dummy.

In saying all of that I still have my reservations and would be very cautious and your aunt is very wise in doing alot of homework before she moves forward in that direction.

I hope this has helped a bit. greenpea 

Re: ECT Treatment

thank you @greenpea appreciate your words

Former-Member
Not applicable

Re: ECT Treatment

Hello @ladolcevita

I believe that as with risks / side effects of treatment it is unknown who will suffer memory loss from ECT until they participate in it.  As with a lot of medical procedures, the negative experiences get a lot more press.  

 

My husband who had a long crisis period which deteriorated into psychotic depression and suicidality has had 2 series of ECT, after the first lot, no memory loss was observed and it did seem to really help. However, Mr Darcy relapsed within 6 months, he had a long hospital stay (primarily due to an attempt) during which time he had more ECT done as an involuntary inpatient under a treatment order and some maintenance ECT as an outpatient. He has marked memory loss; it is hard to quantify but it appears he has random pre ECT recent memories - remembers next to nothing over a 2 year period; he cannot remember significant events from 5 years prior to ECT, his memory then to improve significantly  eking out to random losses perhaps over a 10 year period.   

 

https://psychcentral.com/lib/risks-of-electroconvulsive-therapy-ect/

Re: ECT Treatment

ECT(electro convulsive theraphy) is the modality of treatment for patients who have interactable mental illness but is studied of its effectivness for catatonia patients. it was discovered in a prison who were agresive were shown to respond with shock torcher and the idea came from here.so, my advise for you is if your relative has got interactable depression or if she is catatonic it is the best treatment and most of the time the risk is fracture of bone if she convulses too much and if it is not controlled well and i think such a problem will not occur in your situation

Re: ECT Treatment

My mother had shock treatment in the 60s.

She found it difficult to speak about throughout her life, but at the very end of her life, she stated she was glad she had it, as it shocked her out of deep depression and enabled her to face her life.  She died a few years ago.

 

Re: ECT Treatment

Hey there @ladolcevita, I've had a number of sessions of ECT and although some short-term memory loss at the time was observed, I've since regained those lost memories and have rapid recall rather than drawing random blanks. 

I worked extensively as a public servant with the Health Department until a case of discrimination against me, left me unemployed.

I am undertaking a complete re-vamp of my education and aim to go into the field of mental health as a social worker. ECT hasn't affected my level of intelligence or ability to remember and recall information long-term (thankfully).

I remember at the time of my last ECT sessions, I was severely depressed and suicidal and mainstream medications were not working for me. It was considered as a last resort, but I am glad I went ahead with it. It undoubtedly saved my life at the time.

If I had to have ECT again, I definitely would.

Re: ECT Treatment

Thank you for this!

Re: ECT Treatment

I'm sorry for your loss. Thank you for sharing

Re: ECT Treatment

Hi @Queenie, thanks for shairng your story. Good luck on your new adventure

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