ECT treatments

[Truth Searcher]

Guest~

I stand hat in hand.  I asked for thoughts and experiences.  You stated that you found the ECT funny and laughable.  Forgive me for "judging" your response.  If you found the experience laughable then well ... whatever.  I withdraw my "judgment" of you being sadistic.  

To each his/her own.  

Obviously, I do not find the whole matter funny or laughable.  But, then I'm entitled to my own experience huh?

What is frustrating to me in terms of our mental health system is that:

There are no long term care facilities.  If a family member is mentally ill (to the point of not being able to perform daily activities) there is no care.  We are allowed 15 days psychiatric inpatient care yearly.  Period.

Now if that same family member had cancer ... there is all kinds of support available.  No limits on hospital stays.  All kinds of philanthropic organizations to help defray costs.  Medical leaves.

I know psychiatry is not an exact science.  Some would argue that it is a science period.  Which brings me back to my question about ECT.

Is it a viable treatment option for those who are med resistent?

[Anonymous]

You stated that you found the ECT funny and laughable.

Well if thats how it came across I want to at least add a caveat. Yes our group of "crazies:" who lived together for a few months would have a nervous chuckle as they walked the fresh ECT peeps out of the building to their beds. But those same people would be the ones joining our lu-nch table and do the same thing. My point is we and those people had to have a sense of humor about that shit.. if you can't laugh about something like that, or laugh at yourself for ending up in a situation like that... then yeah, you have real problems. because at that point all we had was our sense of humor, and the fact we could laugh at ourselves at least made it bearable. I was not trying to poke fun at people who do it in any way, sometimes I dont articulate myself well.

I think its silly yes because here is an industry telling these people not to take a bump of coke, or smoke pot or have a drink because its " so dangerous", but they are willing to shock their brain, they dont even know what it does or why it "helps", it seems to me that ECT is more risky than the self medicating techniques most people find. So I think its strange in that way. I think psychiatrity discounts many more simple options for dealing with depression, and comes up with these super elaborate, in my opinion, crazy ideas like giving people seizures intentionally for a short term mood boost.

if you put that person on a regimen of methamphetmine, it would work just as well or better than ECT, but that is deemed inhumane and illegal for some reason.. that is why I think its "laughable".. not I dont sit around at psych hospitals and point at them and say look at that pathetic loser. Yes we did have a sense of humor about it all though... and to be honest, it was the people who did not have a sense of humor of the ability to self depricate that really seemed to be in trouble... so no offense intended, didnt mean to offend you, and if I did i am sorry.

I think ECT is just as legitimate as any other option a human being might want to try in order to make themselves feel better, although, in my opinion if you outlaw some of the more effective of the options, of course you are going to get all sorts of weird things popping up that supposedly elevate your mood. anti depressants, ginko biloba, everyone has their thing. some people smoke pot, other people hook themselves and give themsleves seizures.. whatever works for you I am all for it. i just think its kind of extreme and the half dozen friends I knew who did it, went right back tot he same feelings within a couple weeks, so it seemed like a lot of risk for really no long term benefit .

[AtomicAnt]

What little I know of ECT.

It is only done voluntarily these days. It is used for depression. It seems to help in the short term. Psychiatrists are not sure why it works, it just seems to.

It used to be more widely used, even against the patients will. My family can attest to this. A schzophrenic member spent a year at a mental hospital (insurance covered, so I don't get where the 15 day limit comes from) and was treated with ECT. She never remembered it and denied it ever occurred. I don't think it helped at all.

[Truth Searcher]

Thanks Atomic Ant~

The 15 day inpatient is what our insurance company allows in a "mental health" facility.  

Our state "mental hospitals" (which are an option ... just not a good one) are scary places.  They are filled with mostly the criminally insane and those whose illnesses prevent them from functioning in daily life. It is an unfair, biased system IMHO.

One serious side effect of the ECT is memory impairment ... obviously true in your family members experience.

Again  ... Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Guest~Is it a viable treatment option for those who are med resistent?

Mental Health Liberation and Anti-Psychiatry Movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYQD3Ut1TaQ

Truth about ECT
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BskoiBXJKFc

Depression
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sm9Il-Jn ... er&search=

[Anonymous]

ECT is nothing more than Electro-Lobotomy to allow
the forces of the world to be in complete control.
This is a weapon of mass distruction which Satan
uses to steal kill and distroy anyone forced to be
submissive to this barbaric bondage.

Psychologists and doctors who believe in ECT don't know that Satan has control of them as Nazi SS soldiers to help him fulfill his work in an intelectual extermination service to hinder the rebellious of worldly blasphamy and to maintain control and bondage of the world and no less different than the NAZI SS Doctors of Auschwitz.

ECT is a physical act of Hate Crimes against the week and poor and down and lost! Why else would Doctors and Psychiatrists have to lie and call this a form of treatment? To me This ECT treatment is so obviously the
work of the devil giving him all the power and control he needs! ECT he gives to those who resist his work
allowing him all the control he needs!

hmm.....

[the sunday stealer]

I don't find this very funny at all, either. I have ECT done regularly, I have SAD and usually I go into inpatient during the winter months. I have tried light therapy but I did not find it as effective as ECT. I wish I would respond to the meds but they don't seem to work.  :cry:  :cry:  :cry:

[Antigen]

Truth, I just have to ask this. When you say firsthand personal experience, are you speaking of having received ETC yourself or of having a role in decision making for someone else?

[Truth Searcher]

When you say firsthand personal experience, are you speaking of having received ETC yourself or of having a role in decision making for someone else?

[/b]

Yes ... my husband is seriously considering this treatment option.  I am very hesitant ... even opposed based on what I have read regarding the long term effects and the ineffectiveness of the
"treatment".  I recently found a peer reviewed journal article (Journal of Nueropsychopharmacology) that did a longitudinal study of 600 plus ECT recipients.  There was a significant loss of cognitive function and reduced memory capacity.  I printed a copy for his psychiatrist ... he has yet to address the findings.  He doesn't like me very much.

My hubby on the other hand says the depression is going to kill him anyway ... so what difference does it make.

The trouble I'm facing is that I would like to petition the court to disallow this treatment, but because it is endorsed by most in the medical profession, I am swimming upstream against a strong current.

[Anonymous]

I had ECT in 2001.

It was amazing, how well it worked, zero side effects and I made
it to breakfast each morning of the treatment.

I was on many meds prior to ECT, now I am on a couple, at very
low doses.

I have not had the need for any more treatments since the first four.
Now, going on six years depression free, I am back to work !!!

I was brought into the ECT room about 6:30am, and breakfast was at 7am. I never missed a breakfast.

Curiously, I was wondering where they zapped me. I couldn't feel the spots on my temples. Then I realized all the negative comments are just anti-hype.

I think there are about 500,000 treatments done in the US every year. They are expensive, about $1,300 each. If ECT didn't work they wouldn't use it.

Notice that there has never been a wrongful death, nor malpractice ECT lawsuit ... because it works.

Yes, some have memory loss. Depression also causes memory loss. So, for me it was worth the risk. I had no memory loss.

Good luck to your husband, being in Depression is like living dead.

Finally, yes, the current theory on ECT is to have meds too, not to replace meds.

In my case the meds stopped working, now a fraction of the meds are working better than before the treatment.

If he doesn't like the treatments, he can just say no more ... just like taking meds or any other treatment choice.

I would look forward to a depression free husband ...

[AtomicAnt]

Yes, some have memory loss. Depression also causes memory loss. So, for me it was worth the risk. I had no memory loss.

How do you know you have no memory loss?

My family member experienced memory loss, but would never admit to it...in fact denied it vehemently. Never remembered the ECT, either.

When psychiatrists say they don't know how or why it 'works,' I am cautious. Common sense tells me I don't want to electrocute my brain cells.

[ericsaffold]

ECT is formerly known as electroshock, is a psychiatric treatment in which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized. The difference is that adults go to ECT willingly.. if they were shocking kids against their will, no I wouldnt get that humurous. Electroshock therapy is used for treatment of depression and manic depression.

[Anonymous]

:suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide:  :suicide: