Treatment responses are prompt compared with other standard therapies: 50% show MDD response in the first week and 50% exhibit MDD remission within 2 weeks from ECT (4). However, data are limited for patients with concurrent medical conditions, let alone life-limiting illness.
How long does ECT take to work?
The ECT procedure takes about five to 10 minutes, with added time for preparation and recovery. ECT can be done while you're hospitalized or as an outpatient procedure. To get ready for the ECT procedure: You'll have general anesthesia. So you can expect dietary restrictions before the procedure.
How effective is electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)?
This reduction in symptoms after a single ECT session represented approximately 48% of the ultimate total decline in HAM-D scores for the full course of ECT. Symptom improvement after 1 treatment was similar for all 3 electrode placements.
Do more severely ill patients respond better to ECT?
This is an interesting observation that is consistent with other reports that more severely ill patients respond better to ECT. At least 2 reports suggest that younger age is associated with faster response. 1,2 The first ECT in a series is particularly powerful.
How long does confusion last after ECT treatment?
Your confusion may go away in a short time, such as 1 hour after your treatment. You may lose your memory for 1 to 3 weeks, and some memories may be lost forever. You may also get a headache after an ECT treatment. These headaches usually only last a short time.
How long does it take for ECT to start working?
Results. Many people begin to notice an improvement in their symptoms after about six treatments with electroconvulsive therapy. Full improvement may take longer, though ECT may not work for everyone. Response to antidepressant medications, in comparison, can take several weeks or more.
How long does the effect of ECT last?
Muscle soreness, headache, or nausea, usually lasting less than 48 hours. If these side effects occur, they can be treated with medication.
How long does it take for memory to come back after ECT?
The most persistent adverse effect is retrograde amnesia. Shortly after ECT, most patients have gaps in their memory for events that occurred close in time to the course of ECT, but the amnesia may extend back several months or years. Retrograde amnesia usually improves during the first few months after ECT.
Does ECT take longer than drugs to work?
ECT can work more quickly than medications. It can be especially useful if a patient is suicidal, is not responding to medications or cannot tolerate the side effects of medication.
What happens when ECT doesn't work?
If nothing else has helped, including ECT, and you are still severely depressed, you may be offered neurosurgery for mental disorder (NMD), deep brain stimulation (DBS) or vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).
Can ECT reset your brain?
ECT has been referred to as a “reset button for the brain,” which not only directly improves depressive symptoms, but also allows current medications to work more effectively.
How many times can you do ECT?
HOW MANY TIMES WILL I NEED TO BE TREATED? People undergoing ECT need multiple treatments. The number needed to successfully treat severe depression can range from 4 to 20, but most people need a total of 6 to 12 treatments.
Does ECT destroy brain cells?
The review of literature and present evidence suggests that ECT has a demonstrable impact on the structure and function of the brain. However, there is a lack of evidence at present to suggest that ECT causes brain damage.
Can you feel worse after ECT?
ECT can't prevent future depression, or fix any ongoing stresses or problems that are contributing to how you're feeling. Some people have very bad experiences of ECT, for example because they feel worse after treatment or are given it without consent. You might not want to risk the possibility of getting side effects.
What is the minimum seizure duration required for effectiveness of ECT?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) efficacy is related to the stimulus intensity and clinically associated with the duration of the induced seizure. Convulsions lasting 30 to 60 seconds are conventionally considered to be of optimal length, and generally are achieved by applying routine ECT technique.
Does ECT change personality?
ECT does not change a person's personality, nor is it designed to treat those with just primary “personality disorders.” ECT can cause transient short-term memory — or new learning — impairment during a course of ECT, which fully reverses usually within one to four weeks after an acute course is stopped.
Does ECT work for severe anxiety?
Conclusions: Electroconvulsive therapy is effective in the acute treatment of major depressive disorder patients associated with anxiety symptoms. Anxiety symptoms improved less than depression symptoms during acute electroconvulsive therapy.
What does the speed of response tell us about the mechanisms of action of ECT?
What does the speed of response tell us about the mechanisms of action of ECT? Clearly, in certain patients, the neurobiological changes induced by ECT include almost immediate alterations in brain systems that regulate mood and affect. Perhaps a “switch” mechanism (similar to that seen in bipolar patients) occurs; however, there is no evidence to suggest that very rapid improvement with ECT is associated with bipolar rather than unipolar depression. There is evidence to demonstrate that, overall, bipolar patients require fewer ECT sessions than unipolar patients. 11 Investigation of the rapid antidepressant action of the intravenous anesthetic ketamine may lead to elucidation of related mechanisms of recovery from severe affective illness. 12
How powerful is the first ECT?
The first ECT in a series is particularly powerful. Data from the CORE study that compared right unilateral, bifrontal, and bilateral electrode placements showed that there was a 10.6 (± 8.6) HAM-D point reduction, on average, after the first ECT session (R Knapp, study statistician, personal communication, 2009). This reduction in symptoms after a single ECT session represented approximately 48% of the ultimate total decline in HAM-D scores for the full course of ECT. Symptom improvement after 1 treatment was similar for all 3 electrode placements.
How long does it take to respond to ECT?
We know that depressed patients often begin to respond after the first treatment and progress to wellness with 6 to 12 treatments. There is considerable variability in the trajectories, but most commonly there is progressive symptomatic improvement within the first week and complete remission within 3 to 4 weeks.
What is Carroll BJ?
Carroll BJ, Feinberg M, Greden JF, et al. A specific laboratory test for the diagnosis of melancholia. Standardization, validation, and clinical utility.
What is Rich CL?
Rich CL. Recovery from depression after one ECT.
Does catatonia go into remission after ECT?
There is a small but fascinating literature reporting remission of depression with a single ECT session. Keisling 6 reported an initially unidentified catatonic woman who came out of her stupor after 1 ECT session. Reports of the response of catatonia to 1 induced seizure are noted by Fink and Taylor. 7,8 Rich 9 reported that 2 patients had depression symptom remission. The patients’ dexamethasone suppression test (DST) results normalized after a single ECT session. Thomas and Kellner 10 reported remission of severe obsessive-compulsive disorder and depression symptoms after a single unilateral session of low-dose ECT.
Do bipolar patients need ECT?
There is evidence to demonstrate that, overall, bipolar patients require fewer ECT sessions than unipolar patients. 11 Investigation of the rapid antidepressant action of the intravenous anesthetic ketamine may lead to elucidation of related mechanisms of recovery from severe affective illness. 12.
What is ECT therapy?
WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW: Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a treatment that sends a small electric current to your brain to cause a seizure. The seizure affects the chemicals in your brain, which may make your brain cells work better.
How long does it take for ECT to go away?
ECT may cause memory loss and confusion. Your confusion may go away in a short time, such as 1 hour after your treatment. You may lose your memory for 1 to 3 weeks, and some memories may be lost forever.
What does it mean when you have a fever?
You have a fever. You have a severe headache that does not get better, even after you take medicine to treat it. You have a stiff neck or trouble thinking clearly. You have feelings of guilt or hopelessness, or thoughts of hurting or killing yourself or others.
How to help depression?
Antidepressants: You may be given this medicine to help decrease or prevent symptoms of depression. Take your medicine as directed. Contact your healthcare provider if you think your medicine is not helping or if you have side effects. Tell him of her if you are allergic to any medicine.
Can you get a headache after ECT?
You may also get a headache after an ECT treatment. These headaches usually only last a short time. If you have a headache after ECT, ask your healthcare provider for medicine to make it go away. If more ECT treatments are planned for you, ask the healthcare provider to give you medicine before the treatments to help prevent headaches.
What is ECT?
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a depression treatment that involves the stimulation of the brain with a controlled electrical current.
What Does ECT Treat?
ECT treats severe resistant depression and although it is exactly unclear to scientists and researchers how ECT is so effective, it has proven to be quite effective.
How Effective is ECT for Depression?
Over the past 2 or 3 decades, research has shown that about 47% to 75% of patients who have undergone the procedure have fully recovered from their depressive symptoms.
Side Effects of ECT
Electroconvulsive Therapy is a generally safe treatment for depression but like every other treatment, there are a few side effects.
ECT vs Other Treatment Options That Work
Depression is one of the easiest mental illnesses to tackle today because there are many treatment options.
How We Can Help You
TMS is the future of depression therapy and we are excited to be a part of this movement.
Does ECT affect memory?
Perhaps the most interesting finding regarding the memory effects of ECT is that the hippocampal volume, which has been shown to decrease in major depression, increases following a course of ECT treatment. 11 This finding has been supported by 2 recent studies.
Why does the website store cookies?
This website stores data such as cookies to enable essential site functionality, as well as marketing, personalization, and analytics. Cookie Policy
Is ECT a comparator?
Since ECT is considered to be an established treatment , it can be used as an active comparator in a noninferiority paradigm, avoid ing the ethical dilemma of treat ing very ill patients with a placebo treatment. As such, Helle K. Schoeyen, MD, PhD, and colleagues compared brief-pulse RUL ECT to algorithm-based pharmacology in a cohort of patients with treatment-resistant bipolar depression. 3 At the end of a 6-week trial, the Montgomery-Asberg Depression Rating Scale scores in the ECT group were 6.6 points lower than those of the pharmacological treatment group (95% CI, 2.5-10.6; P = .002). In a novel treatment design, Charles Kellner, MD, and colleagues compared continuation ECT augmented by venlafaxine with lithium plus venlafaxine in geriatric depression. 4 At 24 weeks, the ECT group had statistically significantly lower depression scores (Hamilton Depression Rating Scale score, 4.2; 95% CI, 1.6-6.9) than the medication only group. If ECT were not more effective than placebo, as Read and colleagues proposed, there would be no difference in the efficacy of different types of ECT, nor would ECT perform better than standard pharmacology. Taken together, these studies support the acute and sustained clinical efficacy of ECT and are inconsistent with the lack of efficacy proposed by Read and colleagues.
Is ECT outdated?
In summary, the concerns that were raised about ECT are commonly shared by the general public, and they are based on data from older studies that used the methodology now considered outdated both in terms of ECT practice and analytic techniques. Read and colleagues did not consider more recent, state-of-the-art clinical trial data that corroborate more than 75 years of clinical experience supporting the efficacy of ECT in a population of patients who suffer significant disability, increased medical comorbidity, and increased mortality.
Does ECT cause heart rate to increase?
The other safety concerns raised were an increased risk of major cardiac adverse events and an increased risk of death from ECT. While ECT does cause dramatic swings in heart rate and blood pressure, these effects are transient and well known.
Does ECT cause brain damage?
The main safety concern raised by Read and coauthors is that ECT causes brain damage. Specifically, they argued that the changes to autobiographical memory and the memory difficulties reported by patients following ECT treatment are evidence of brain damage.
Is ECT an established treatment?
Key Efficacy Findings From Recent Studies. Since ECT is considered to be an established treatment, it can be used as an active comparator in a noninferiority paradigm, avoiding the ethical dilemma of treating very ill patients with a placebo treatment.
How is ECT Performed?
Before the ECT procedure is started, the patient is put to sleep under the effect of general anesthesia. A muscle relaxant is also administered.
How effective is ECT?
Dr. Max Fink published a review of various studies into ECT in Psychiatric Times. It is a lengthy report to read, so here are the key findings that you need to know: 1 ECT, when done properly, can serve as an effective treatment for patients suffering from more severe forms of depression. The effectiveness of this treatment has little impact on the results previously obtained in the same patients with other treatments. 2 The effectiveness of ECT is more pronounced in patients with treatment-resistant depression, a form of depression that cannot be cured by adequate use of drugs. 3 ECT effectively and quickly relieves vegetative features, depressed mood, suicide risk, and psychosis in severely depressed patients. 4 ECT is a very effective intervention for patients preoccupied with suicide. 5 It is necessary to carry on ECT as a routine medical procedure even after the patient has been cured. Rapid relapse is the principal risk, and it can only be avoided by follow-up and medications.
What is ECT in medical terms?
To put it simply, ECT is a procedure in which pulses of electric current are sent through the patient’s brain.
What is ECT equipment?
In the U.S., ECT apparatus is classified as Category III medical equipment. It means that the patient (or their caretaker if the patient is incapacitated) must be made aware of the
What is prescribed after ECT?
Fink further noted in his report that there is a need for further assessment of treatment options to continue after successful ECT. Antidepressants, atypical antipsychotics, and mood-stabilizers are to be prescribed after the therapy to sustain the ECT results.
How long does a syringe last?
Some patients might experience nausea, jaw pain, headache, and muscle ache on the days of the treatment. It can last for a few days after the treatment in some cases.
How often is a syringe removed?
The procedure is generally performed two to three times a week, over two to four weeks.
