How to get ECT as a foreigner?What is the process?

[Daria98765]

I'm from post USSR country.How can i get ECT in Europe or Canada,US as a foreigner or should i do it in my homeland?
If i should do it abroad,then how do i do it?For example in Germany?What is the process?Should i go to some psychiatrist and wait till he decides i need ECT?

 

[Sad_Sack]

I'm from post USSR country.How can i get ECT in Europe or Canada,US as a foreigner or should i do it in my homeland?
If i should do it abroad,then how do i do it?For example in Germany?What is the process?Should i go to some psychiatrist and wait till he decides i need ECT?

I think going to a psychiatrist is about the only way you can go about it. If you have some way to show them you have tried and failed other options it would increase the odds they would go that route. You probably have studied ECT already but if you aren't aware it can really mess up your memory. Some people feel it destroyed them. Honestly though I whole heartedly believe psych drugs are even more dangerous.

 

[Ironweed]

There's a bunch of rules about ECT in the USA. For one thing, you aren't allowed to drive yourself home after treatment, so you'll be completely dependent upon family or friends to get to and from your appointments. Another issue (among many) is that there's not a lot of places even offering the service. I think some places only do it on an inpatient basis, which is of course extremely expensive. I have no idea what insurance will and will not cover, either, but it would not shock me to find out many will not cover it.

I was evaluated for ECT at McLean Hospital outside Boston about a decade ago, and was rejected. I wasn't considered depressed enough, apparently. FWIW, the setup was truly awful. Privacy was pretty much nil, patients were wheeled out of treatment right through the lobby. The psychiatrist doing the evaluation and I were kicked out of something like three exam rooms and we finished up in the lobby. (Some privacy.) And McLean is supposed to be in the top tier for ECT in the USA, go figure.

 

[lionetta12]

I'm from post USSR country.How can i get ECT in Europe or Canada,US as a foreigner or should i do it in my homeland?
If i should do it abroad,then how do i do it?For example in Germany?What is the process?Should i go to some psychiatrist and wait till he decides i need ECT?

You can seek your general doctor or see a psychiatrist and ask for referal to ECT, but the odds of it being approved is not very high, especially if you have not tried all other available treatments for your condition prior.