Discussion Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

[About_to_Go]

Has anyone considered it or tried it? I have to say, I was skeptical that it would work for me. However, my fifth session was yesterday and I do feel a difference! I'd still rather be dead than alive but I don't have as intense of feelings of tiredness and dread and being weighed down as I had before.

 

[justabouttobedone]

I happy for that it is working for you, many are not that lucky. There tons of people who have been damaged from ect. I have considered it many times, but I am afraid of etc's possible destructive side effects. Also, they say that ect only works only for a short term, then the benefits of it slowly decrease over time.

 

[About_to_Go]

:( hopefully it continues to work. All the healthcare professionals swear that it's safe and effective. They say you may need to go in to get it done every once in a while after the initial round of treatment.

 

[Meretlein]

I hope it continues to work for you. Do you have any memory loss?

 

[Superfluous]

Are you doing full ECT or TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation). From what I've read, it can be very effective. Here's a quote from webMD:

Although ECT has been used since the 1940s and 1950s, it remains misunderstood by the general public. Many of the procedure's risks and side effects are related to the misuse of equipment, incorrect administration, or improperly trained staff. It is also a misconception that ECT is used as a "quick fix" in place of long-term therapy or hospitalization. Nor is it correct to believe that the patient is painfully "shocked" out of the depression. Unfavorable news reports and media coverage have contributed to the controversy surrounding this treatment.

 

[Jean Améry]

Has anyone considered it or tried it? I have to say, I was skeptical that it would work for me. However, my fifth session was yesterday and I do feel a difference! I'd still rather be dead than alive but I don't have as intense of feelings of tiredness and dread and being weighed down as I had before.

Considered it? No. Tried it: hell no. ECT is intentionally damaging the brain without removing the cause of the problem, I fail to see how this can be considered a legitimate medical treatment. They don't know what is causing depression so they sure as hell can't treat it with any degree of accuracy.

The effects of this might be positive initially but from what I've read this doesn't last so the brain needs to be damaged over and over again.

Of course anyone is free to do with their body what they want and I wish anyone who suffers from depression or any mental problem relief and recovery but personally if the choice is between ECT and CTB I'll choose the latter. At least that way I won't have to live with self-inflicted damage to my most precious organ.

Not that this needs to be the case as I'm looking into psychedelics for my depression (ketamine is now being used for what is called 'treatment resistant depression') and have an appointment for my physical problem next week.

 

[Pentobartbital]

Beware the cognitive side effects brought on by shock therapy. Firefighters, engineers, nurses and others whose profession relies upon specific knowledge and technical aptitude have had entire segments of their memories bored out.

When Hemmingway received treatment, he experienced this very adverse effect and became so beguiled by the affair that he communicated his want of self-termination over his memory declining.

 

[Jean Améry]

:( hopefully it continues to work. All the healthcare professionals swear that it's safe and effective. They say you may need to go in to get it done every once in a while after the initial round of treatment.

Psychiatrists claiming their treatments are safe and effective: lol. Dr. Peter Breggin (MD and psychiatrist) begs to differ: .

 

[Superfluous]

Psychiatrists claiming their treatments are safe and effective: lol. Dr. Peter Breggin (MD and psychiatrist) begs to differ: .

Of course he does. He's built his career on it:

Known for: Criticism of biopsychiatry and psychiatric drugs

 

[Meretlein]

Guys, we shouldn't completely poo poo a treatment that is helping someone.

 

[About_to_Go]

I hope it continues to work for you. Do you have any memory loss?

Not yet. I haven't noticed any loss, at least. I don't remember things immediately after getting the treatment but I think that's due to the anaesthesia.

Are you doing full ECT or TMS (transcranial magnetic stimulation). From what I've read, it can be very effective. Here's a quote from webMD:

ECT. TMS wasn't even brought up by my doctors.

Considered it? No. Tried it: hell no. ECT is intentionally damaging the brain without removing the cause of the problem, I fail to see how this can be considered a legitimate medical treatment. They don't know what is causing depression so they sure as hell can't treat it with any degree of accuracy.

The effects of this might be positive initially but from what I've read this doesn't last so the brain needs to be damaged over and over again.

Of course anyone is free to do with their body what they want and I wish anyone who suffers from depression or any mental problem relief and recovery but personally if the choice is between ECT and CTB I'll choose the latter. At least that way I won't have to live with self-inflicted damage to my most precious organ.

Not that this needs to be the case as I'm looking into psychedelics for my depression (ketamine is now being used for what is called 'treatment resistant depression') and have an appointment for my physical problem next week.

This worries me. Idk why the hell psychedelics aren't being used as mainstream treatment!

Psychiatrists claiming their treatments are safe and effective: lol. Dr. Peter Breggin (MD and psychiatrist) begs to differ: .

I'm going to have to look into this further... I've already had six treatments...

 

[Jean Améry]

Of course he does. He's built his career on it:

Just like mainstream psychiatrists built their career on doling out pills and administering shock treatment. What's your point? If he's a fraud who spreads falsehoods (i.e ECT does not damage the brain and has no averse effects) it would be easy to prove, wouldn't it?

Dr. Breggin started his career as a mainstream psychiatrist and he would have had a great career no matter what he decided to do. Opposing psychiatry for its harmful treatments is much harder and certainly less lucrative than going along with it.

I would never subject myself to such a barbaric, injurous non-treatment like ECT. If I do decide to live I need my brain intact for both economic and personal reasons.

I suffered enough damage due to psychiatry's quackery. If it ever evolves into an actual science-based medical discipline that discovers biological roots to depression and the exact mechanism by which one gets depressed I'll be the first in line to get treatment as I'm very much pro medicine and pro science. Not to mention very much anti suffering.

Guys, we shouldn't completely poo poo a treatment that is helping someone.

How do you define 'helping someone'? I'd wait to see whether a) this 'treatment' produces actual results and b) whether there aren't any lasting negative side-effects. Going to a witchdoctor might actually 'help' in the sense that people who believe in that sort of thing will probably feel better but that is not medicine and offers a pseudo-solution at best.

It seems to help some therefore it's a bona fide medical treatment... By that logic praying could be considered a medical treatment as it usually produces positive feelings in those that engage in it and offers an antidote to despair and mental suffering.

The OP should do what he/she thinks best. I will not be silent on a matter I feel strongly about but everyone should make up their own mind and decide what is appropriate for them.

 

[Nanami]

If you feel like it might be helping you, and you want to do it, don't feel discouraged by some youtube video.
Some of the things said in that video quite frankly aren't true, and almost all of the data he quotes are from 1970.

Aside from the fuzziness from anesthesia, I haven't had any memory loss at all, I wasn't shocked into submission, my character didn't change and neither did it for anyone who had done it at the same time as me there. Any treatment comes with potential sideffects though and ect isn't magic.

 

[About_to_Go]

I saw my psychiatrist today. I'm scheduled for 4 more sessions so I'll let everyone know how I'm doing in 2 weeks.

 

[Jean Améry]

I saw my psychiatrist today. I'm scheduled for 4 more sessions so I'll let everyone know how I'm doing in 2 weeks.

The best of luck to you. I truly hope you'll be ok.

 

[Superfluous]

I saw my psychiatrist today. I'm scheduled for 4 more sessions so I'll let everyone know how I'm doing in 2 weeks.

I also hope it all works out for you. I'll wait for your update.

The best of luck to you. I truly hope you'll be ok.

I know we disagree, but thanks for being supportive.

 

[FTL.Wanderer]

Has anyone considered it or tried it? I have to say, I was skeptical that it would work for me. However, my fifth session was yesterday and I do feel a difference! I'd still rather be dead than alive but I don't have as intense of feelings of tiredness and dread and being weighed down as I had before.

I did high voltage bilateral ECT when I was in school. Back when I still believed therapists and psychiatrists could help me. Other than short-term memory loss and the worst headaches I've ever since had, ECT did absolutely nothing for me. Good luck finishing your course and for the future.

 

[HelpPlease]

I hated it

 

[About_to_Go]

I hated it

Why's that? If you feel comfortable sharing

 

[HelpPlease]

It's not supposed to happen. Electrocute your head? Nope. It's a torturous nightmare. Don't do it. It will destroy you.

 

[Boonks]

Psychiatrists are evil.

 

[Superfluous]

It's not supposed to happen. Electrocute your head? Nope. It's a torturous nightmare. Don't do it. It will destroy you.

Whilst you are entitled to your opinions, may I respectfully request that you not try to discourage the OP from receiving treatment that so far appears to be helping.

 

[Letmego. Please]

I was forced back in 1993 to undergo ect while an inpatient. Hated it, did nothing sadly for the depression, gave me the most evil headaches, as for memory problems, jees what was i saying, oh yeah memory, used to come too holding a cup of Tea (i hate tea) & a rich tea biscuit (hate them too) then they would wheel me back to the ward & i wouldn't even know where i was. It was done in blocks of 10 i think & i had 3x that.

I went back to where i grew up a couple of yrs later & would have people i had no memory of coming up to me like they'd known me for yrs, which i guess they had through school or collage but to me they were a blank, its a weird feeling. Defiantly lost a lot of my pre Ect memories, though sadly not all.

I imagine that it has got a lot safer since then, more focused on certain areas rather than the basic zap of everything that i got. And although i personally hate it i know it has & does work very well for some people.

 

[Ruffian]

Shock Therapy Loses Some of Its Shock Value (Published 2006)

From Kitty Dukakis comes a look at electroconvulsive therapy - commonly called shock therapy - for depression.

www.nytimes.com

This is a pretty good article if you want to do a little more research. I initially wanted to post something about Dick Cavett - he was the first celebrity to speak openly about depression and how much ECT helped him. This article is a little more balanced though and does mention it. The depression I'm in now is the worst I've ever been in - I would definitely consider it. It's your life ultimately- just like I would never advise someone to ctb or not, same with ECT.

 

[alizee]

Electroconvulsive therapy is brain damage dressed up as a treatment.

The procedure outcome shows how medical professionals ignore damage done to the brain and to the extent of where a person loses a part of themselves. Be it memories or one's own volition to not be swayed by others.

Doctors have no problem if a person does this treatment, becomes disabled and then just navigates throughout life as a damaged person. They view disabled people as better than depressed or suicidal and when the disabled are not all there with being easily coerced throughout life by others.

It's similar to how people don't view medication as damaging by the side effects if they have a perception that benefit outweighs the negative. To each their own but I feel really awful because I think most people are not educated and just trust the doctors who have conditioned themselves to just think positively about it all. I wish life was never so bad for people having to require drugs or this procedure I would never do for myself.

 

[Ruffian]

Electroconvulsive therapy is brain damage dressed up as a treatment.

The procedure outcome shows how medical professionals ignore damage done to the brain and to the extent of where a person loses a part of themselves. Be it memories or one's own volition to not be swayed by others.

Doctors have no problem if a person does this treatment, becomes disabled and then just navigates throughout life as a damaged person. They view disabled people as better than depressed or suicidal and when the disabled are not all there with being easily coerced throughout life by others.

It's similar to how people don't view medication as damaging by the side effects if they have a perception that benefit outweighs the negative. To each their own but I feel really awful because I think most people are not educated and just trust the doctors who have conditioned themselves to just think positively about it all. I wish life was never so bad for people having to require drugs or this procedure I would never do for myself.

Yeah, I remember I had an abnormal psych professor who I absolutely hated. But one thing I agreed with on was that anti-psychotics were essentially chemical lobotomies.

 

[alizee]

Yeah, I remember I had an abnormal psych professor who I absolutely hated. But one thing I agreed with on was that anti-psychotics were essentially chemical lobotomies.

That's really truly phrased.

I've known a schizophrenic who was forced into taking medication because of family members. The person became easily coerced in life and resembling someone who just trusts everyone as a good person. The person is now happy to abide by whatever a person desires them to do and without thinking about it. It's so freaky that the brain can be fucked to make a person like that and when originally the person was very stubborn in how they wanted their own life to be. Imagine if you had a controlling family that wanted something else for you and against your wishes with this procedure happening to you. That's a fate worse than death because my family members were religious idiots.

Then again some people probably would be alright with all of the above if everything was slightly different. Like having a partner that deeply cares about you in life and you trust won't ever leave you. Even if you're all not there for the person, maybe it's something a person would consider and otherwise the alternative is too cruel for the loved partner.

 

[Boonks]

This makes me hate myself even more for trusting my psychiatrist in 2016 and taking the prescription he gave me, which is now leading me to kill myself.

 

[Ruffian]

This makes me hate myself even more for trusting my psychiatrist in 2016 and taking the prescription he gave me, which is now leading me to kill myself.

No, no, no! Please don't hate yourself!!!!! They are supposed to be helping us! It's only natural to trust them. I've taken many prescriptions and later regretted it. I feel like they are really just guessing sometimes, and believe me, as an outsider I would never judge you for trusting your DOCTOR!

 

[FTL.Wanderer]

No, no, no! Please don't hate yourself!!!!! They are supposed to be helping us! It's only natural to trust them. I've taken many prescriptions and later regretted it. I feel like they are really just guessing sometimes, and believe me, as an outsider I would never judge you for trusting your DOCTOR!

Makes me feel even better about firing my mental health team many years ago.