What is shock therapy (ECT)?
Mar 01, 2022 · Risks And Side Effects Of Shock Therapy. Modern ECT is a very safe procedure, but there are a few risks and side effects. Because this is a medical procedure that uses general anesthesia, you may suffer medical complications. In addition, the treatment always causes increases in heart rate and blood pressure.
What is shock therapy and how does it work?
Mar 27, 2013 · I thought about my transistors, and about the delicacy and complexity of the human brain. In college I heard a number of psychiatrists say that shock “treatment” was very effective for depression, and was perfectly safe. They also mentioned that the therapeutic effect occurred because the electric current caused a seizure.
What should you not do before shock therapy?
Jul 22, 2021 · Researchers found that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe treatment, especially when compared to the risks associated with severe depression. Patients who received ECT were less at risk of suicide, compared to those who didn't.
When is shock therapy indicated for depression?
2003 An ECT Fact Sheet published by the U.S. Mental Health Foundation states, “Shock damages the brain, causing memory loss and disorientation that creates an illusion that problems are gone, and euphoria, which is a frequently observed result of brain injury.” 2005 The World Health Organization recommends that ECT never be used on children.
Does shock therapy damage the brain?
Despite many scientific and governmental authorities having concluded that ECT does not cause brain damage, there is significant evidence that ECT has indeed caused brain damage in some patients, both historically and recently, and evidence that it always causes some form or degree of brain damage.
Is ECT worth the risk?
Risk Assessment of Electroconvulsive Therapy in Clinical Routine: A 3-Year Analysis of Life-Threatening Events in More Than 3,000 Treatment Sessions. Background: Extensive research has reported that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can be highly effective in approximately 80% of patients suffering from depression.Nov 23, 2021
What is the success rate of ECT therapy?
What is the Success Rate of Electroconvulsive Therapy? ECT is an effective medical treatment option, helping as many as 80-85 percent of patients who receive it. Most patients remain well for many months afterwards.
What are the risks of ECT therapy?
The most common side effects of ECT on the day of treatment include nausea, headache, fatigue, confusion, and slight memory loss, which may last minutes to hours. These risks must be balanced with the consequences of ineffectively treated severe psychiatric disorders.
Who should not get ECT?
Not everyone is a candidate for treatment even if they believe ECT could help them. For example, children under age eleven cannot undergo ECT for mental health disorders. People with heart conditions and people who cannot handle short-acting sedatives or muscle relaxers should not undergo ECT treatments.
Does memory come back after ECT?
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.
Is electric shock therapy painful?
Freeman and R. E. Kendell of the University of Edinburgh found that 68 percent reported that the experience was no more upsetting than a visit to the dentist. For the others, ECT was more unpleasant than dentistry, but it was not painful. Still, the treatment is not hazard-free.
Does ECT change your 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 hurt?
Typically, any memory loss sustained will improve in the days and weeks following the procedure. Other side effects that can result from ECT include: Headaches, muscle aches or jaw pain.Sep 16, 2019
Do they shave your head for ECT?
During surgery prep, you'll have your head shaved. You may be kept unconscious throughout brain surgery with general anesthesia or stay awake with a local anesthetic used on your scalp. A sturdy frame will hold your head to prevent movement during surgery.Feb 21, 2021
What are the long term side effects of ECT?
Objective. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been controversially associated with long-lasting memory problems. Verbal learning and memory deficits are commonly reported in studies of people with bipolar disorder (BD).
Does ECT cause blindness?
Conclusion: Transient cortical blindness is probably a very rare adverse effect of ECT. The findings are discussed in the context of visual impairment associated with epileptic seizures.
What is shock therapy?
"Shock therapy" was so-called, as an electric shock is used to induce a controlled seizure intended as a treatment , primarily for mood disorders, although other conditions may be treated as well. Shock therapy is now known as electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.
What is the name of the drug that is used to treat seizures?
A paralyzing agent called succinylcholine is then administered to prevent the seizure from spreading to your body. The electrodes are then applied to your head with conducting jelly and a brief shock (less than 2 seconds) is administered.
Does shock help with depression?
Shock treatment for depression often produces a dramatic improvement in symptoms, especially in elderly individuals, sometimes during the first week of treatment. While it is estimated many of these patients will experience a future return of depression symptoms, the prognosis for each episode of depression is good. Mania also often responds well to shock treatment. The picture is not as bright for schizophrenia, which is more difficult to treat and is characterized by frequent relapses.
Can ECT cause memory loss?
You will likely experience short-term memory loss around the time of the procedure. With multiple treatments, this may increase. Adverse cognitive effects tend to be the most concerning factors around ECT and tend to affect the frequency and duration of treatments and whether ECT is offered at all. Your vital signs will be monitored closely ...
Is electroconvulsive therapy effective?
Electroconvulsive therapy has also shown effectiveness in treating other disorders such as neuroleptic malignant syndrome (a rare, severe, adverse reaction to antipsychotic medication). Shock treatment for depression and other disorders is indicated when the patient needs rapid improvement because the patient is:
How many sessions of ECT?
The patients who received ECT went through an average of eight sessions. In the end, the incidence of a serious medical event—such as hospitalization or death—within 30 days following initial hospitalization was lower, although not significantly, among individuals who received ECT.
Who is Sarah Simon?
Sarah Simon. twitter. Sarah Simon is a bilingual multimedia journalist with a degree in psychology. She has previously written for publications including The Daily Beast and Rantt Media. Learn about our editorial process.
Is ECT safe for depression?
After studying data collected over a 10-year period, they found that ECT is safe and effective for people with treatment-resistant depression. Compared to the risks associated with severe depression, such as hospitalization and suicide—ECT did not present a clinically significant risk of serious medical events.
Is talk therapy effective for depression?
At the same time, conditions like depression are very serious, he adds and can have consequences for someone's quality of life. "Medication and talk therapy are often very effective, but there are large portions of people who don't respond to these kinds of treatments," he says.
Is ECT underused?
ECT Is Improved, but Underused. The American Psychiatric Association finds that ECT produces "substantial improvement" in approximately 80% of patients. Yet, nearly nine out of 10 U.S. hospitals do not offer this treatment. It's also estimated that only 1.5% of patients who could benefit from it actually use it.
Is electroconvulsive therapy safe?
Researchers found that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe treatment, especially when compared to the risks associated with severe depression . Patients who received ECT were less at risk of suicide, compared to those who didn't. People with severe depression who might benefit from ECT are often reluctant to receive ...
How often do you get ECT?
In the United States, ECT treatments are generally given two to three times weekly for three to four weeks — for a total of six to 12 treatments. Some doctors use a newer technique called right unilateral ultrabrief pulse electroconvulsive therapy that's done daily on weekdays.
How long does an ECT last?
This causes a small amount of electric current to pass through the electrodes to your brain, producing a seizure that usually lasts less than 60 seconds.
What are the signs of mania?
Other signs of mania include impaired decision-making, impulsive or risky behavior, substance abuse, and psychosis. Catatonia, characterized by lack of movement, fast or strange movements, lack of speech, and other symptoms. It's associated with schizophrenia and certain other psychiatric disorders.
How long does confusion last?
Rarely, confusion may last several days or longer. Confusion is generally more noticeable in older adults. Memory loss. Some people have trouble remembering events that occurred right before treatment or in the weeks or months before treatment or, rarely, from previous years.
What is ECT in medical terms?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure, done under general anesthesia, in which small electric currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a brief seizure. ECT seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental health conditions.
Can anesthesia cause heart problems?
These generally can be treated with medications. Medical complications. As with any type of medical procedure, especially one that involves anesthesia, there are risks of medical complications. During ECT, heart rate and blood pressure increase, and in rare cases, that can lead to serious heart problems.
What is ECT used for?
ECT is used to treat: Severe depression, particularly when accompanied by detachment from reality (psychosis), a desire to commit suicide or refusal to eat. Treatment-resistant depression, a severe depression that doesn't improve with medications or other treatments. Severe mania, a state of intense euphoria, agitation or hyperactivity ...
When is ECT administered?
Promotional materials are careful in describing the procedure and present a picture that’s quite benign: “ECT treatment is generally administered in the morning, before breakfast,” reads one brochure. “Prior to the actual treatment, the patient is given general anesthesia and a muscle relaxant.
Who wrote a question of torture?
Alfred McCoy, author of A Question of Torture, noted, “In effect, they were testing under field conditions whether Ewen Cameron’s McGill depatterning techniques could actually alter human behavior.”. Supporters of ECT are quick to distance its current application from its roots in Fascist Italy and its use in torture.
Does ECT cause memory loss?
The brain damage caused by ECT results in varying degrees of memory loss and intellectu al and cognitive impairment , says Dallas psychiatrist Colin Ross. Ross also cites “substantial evidence” that the death rates from natural causes rise following an ECT regimen, particularly in the older patient population.
Which is the best brain stimulation therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy is the best studied brain stimulation therapy and has the longest history of use. Other stimulation therapies discussed here are newer, and in some cases still experimental methods. These include:
What is DBS treatment?
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) was first developed as a treatment for Parkinson's disease to reduce tremor, stiffness, walking problems and uncontrollable movements. In DBS, a pair of electrodes is implanted in the brain and controlled by a generator that is implanted in the chest.
What is MST therapy?
magnetic seizure therapy (MST) deep brain stimulation (DBS) A treatment plan may also include medication and psychotherapy. Choosing the right treatment plan should be based on a person's individual needs and medical situation, and under a doctor's care.
How does brain stimulation work?
Brain stimulation therapies involve activating or inhibiting the brain directly with electricity. The electricity can be given directly by electrodes implanted in the brain, or noninvasively through electrodes placed on the scalp. The electricity can also be induced by using magnetic fields applied to the head.
When was RTMS first used?
First developed in 1985, rTMS has been studied as a treatment for depression, psychosis, anxiety, and other disorders. Unlike ECT, in which electrical stimulation is more generalized, rTMS can be targeted to a specific site in the brain.
What is MST in medical terms?
Magnetic seizure therapy (MST) borrows certain aspects from both ECT and rTMS. Like rTMS, MST uses magnetic pulses instead of electricity to stimulate a precise target in the brain. However, unlike rTMS, MST aims to induce a seizure like ECT. So the pulses are given at a higher frequency than that used in rTMS.
How long does a pulse generator last?
The vagus nerve, in turn, delivers those signals to the brain. The pulse generator, which operates continuously, is powered by a battery that lasts around 10 years, after which it must be replaced.
What happens to the brain after a brain injury?
After brain injury -- especially to the highest centers which express emotional awareness, self-insight, and judgment -- individuals stop reporting their upset or distressing feelings. They have either lost awareness or they are too apathetic to care anymore. That, again, is the lobotomy effect.
Where are the electrodes placed in the brain?
Both electrodes are placed over the temples, overlapping the frontal lobes of the brain. The most intensive surge of electricity hits the memory centers in the tip of the temporal lobes and affects the highest human functions in the frontal lobes. Advertisement.
Do antidepressants work?
The authors of the study note that antidepressants probably work by doing the same thing -- producing "disconnectivity" between emotion-regulating centers in the brain. Advertisement.
Is ECT the best treatment for depression?
The media coverage was unquestioning and wholly positive. ECT is touted as the best treatment for depression and we are told that science has finally, after more than 70 years, found out how it works. The method used was bilateral ECT -- the most grossly damaging and most commonly used form of the treatment.
Does ECT cause brain damage?
This new study contradicts claims by shock advocates such as psychiatrist David Healy that ECT does not cause brain damage. The report argues that this ECT effect supports the idea that depressive patients have too much activity in their frontal lobes and are returned to normal bv damaging the offending area of the brain.
Terminology
Mechanism
- The brain is still not well understood, nor is the reason for the treatment effects ECT (shock) therapy has on some individuals. It is known that ECT affects hormones, neuropeptides, neurotrophic factors, and neurotransmitters in the brain. All of this may come together to explain how ECT works in treatment.
Preparation
- A full physical is generally needed before shock therapy. Because general anesthesia will be administered, one should not eat or drink 8-12 hours before the shock treatment. This helps to prevent any vomiting during the procedure. Other exams like an electrocardiogram (ECG) may also be given before ECT to ensure the procedure is safe and appropriate.
Treatment
- Shock therapy is performed in a hospital, sometimes in an area specifically set aside for this treatment. An intravenous (IV) is inserted to provide anesthetic medication. Vital signs are taken initially and continuously throughout the shock therapy treatment. An anesthesiologist administers anesthesia and after you are asleep, places a tube in your throat to help you breathe…
Results
- When you awake from the anesthesia, you may be confused and tired. You will likely experience short-term memory loss around the time of the procedure. With multiple treatments, this may increase. Adverse cognitive effects tend to be the most concerning factors around ECT and tend to affect the frequency and duration of treatments and whether ECT is offered at all. Your vital si…
Uses
- It is most common to see shock therapy used in severe cases of depression. Shock therapy is also performed to improve the condition of the following disorders:1
Risks
- The complications associated with ECT / shock therapy are often related to electrode placement with bilateral placement (an electrode by each temple) typically showing greater unwanted cognitive effects than unilateral placement (one electrode at the temple and the other on the forehead). Risks of shock therapy include slow heart beat (bradycardia)...
Prognosis
- Shock treatment for depression often produces a dramatic improvement in symptoms, especially in elderly individuals, sometimes during the first week of treatment. While it is estimated many of these patients will experience a future return of depression symptoms, the prognosis for each episode of depression is good. Mania also often responds well to shock treatment. The picture i…
Overview
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a procedure, done under general anesthesia, in which small electric currents are passed through the brain, intentionally triggering a brief seizure. ECT seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental health conditions. ECT often works when other treatments are unsuccessful and when the full course o…
Why It's Done
- Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can provide rapid, significant improvements in severe symptoms of several mental health conditions. ECT is used to treat: 1. Severe depression,particularly when accompanied by detachment from reality (psychosis), a desire to commit suicide or refusal to eat. 2. Treatment-resistant depression,a severe depression that doesn't improve with medications o…
Risks
- Although ECT is generally safe, risks and side effects may include: 1. Confusion.Immediately after treatment, you may experience confusion, which can last from a few minutes to several hours. You may not know where you are or why you're there. Rarely, confusion may last several days or longer. Confusion is generally more noticeable in older adults....
How You Prepare
- Before having your first ECT treatment, you'll need a full evaluation, which usually includes: 1. Medical history 2. Complete physical exam 3. Psychiatric assessment 4. Basic blood tests 5. Electrocardiogram (ECG) to check your heart health 6. Discussion of the risks of anesthesia These exams help make sure that ECT is safe for you.
What You Can Expect
- 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.
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. No one knows for certain how ECT helps treat severe depression and other mental illness…