How long can ECT be given?
Mar 02, 2022 · 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. ECT is used to treat certain conditions, such as depression, that do not get better after medicines or other therapies have been tried.
Why do some people need maintenance ECT?
Feb 27, 2008 · Answer: ECT is usually given two or three times a week -- usually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Typically the ECT treatment course lasts eight to 12 treatments -- sometimes as few as six, sometimes as many as 15 treatments can occur in a course. Your doctor will determine how many you need depending on your response.
Is it dangerous to wait for ECT to work?
Apr 23, 2022 · Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is most often used in cases of severe, intractable, hard to treat (treatment-resistant) depression. Generally, ECT is a short-term treatment where the patient receives 6-12 treatments over the course of 2-4 weeks. However, in some cases, continuation ECT or maintenance ECT is used.
How long does ECT treatment take at McLean?
May 19, 2015 · ECT is the most effective known treatment for depression with remission rates of 50-80% (give or take depending on the study), even for treatment-resistant depression. Studies consistently show it to be much higher than any medication. ECT does not require medication alteration (for the vast majority).
When should ECT be offered as a treatment?
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.More items...•Oct 12, 2018
How do you qualify for ECT?
Who can get ECT in California? Any adult age 18 or older with an appropriate clinical diagnosis and who is capable of giving voluntary informed consent can receive ECT.
How quickly does ECT work for depression?
After two to three weeks, 71% of people who received ECT had a positive response to treatment. But only 28% who received the antidepressant had a positive response after four weeks of treatment. The results were published in 1997 in the medical journal Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavia.Sep 8, 2020
How often do ECT treatments make you feel better?
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.Apr 7, 2021
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 ECT 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.
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 cause weight gain?
During ECT, all patients increased their caloric intake (280 +/- 180 to 1,510 +/- 60 kcal/day, mean +/- SEM) to exceed their basal energy expenditure; major improvements in their depressive symptoms and weight gain were seen in five of the six patients.
Does ECT worsen anxiety?
ECT may have a role in people who have comorbid depression and anxiety. The concern of some psychiatrists is that while ECT may help with depressive symptoms, it could worsen anxiety symptoms, including obsessional thoughts or panic attacks.Mar 22, 2020
Does ECT increase serotonin?
Conclusion. Altogether, our results showed that serum serotonin levels significantly increase following ECT in MDD patients.
Can ECT make you more depressed?
ECT may flood the brain with neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which are known to be involved in conditions like depression and schizophrenia.
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).
What are the risks of ECT?
Risks and Side Effects of ECT. The most common side effect of ECT is short-term memory loss. However, some people report that they have long-term memory loss, as well. ECT also causes a brief rise in heart rate and blood pressure during the procedure, so it may not be recommended in people with unstable heart problems.
How does electroconvulsive therapy work?
How Electroconvulsive Therapy Works. With ECT, an electrical stimulation is delivered to the brain and causes a seizure. For reasons that doctors don't completely understand, this seizure helps relieve the symptoms of depression. ECT does not cause any structural damage to the brain.
What is the best treatment for depression?
Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) for Depression. For some people with severe or hard-to-treat depression, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is the best treatment. This treatment, sometimes referred to as "electroshock therapy," is often misunderstood and incorrectly portrayed by popular media as a harsh, cruel treatment.
Does ECT work for depression?
Studies have shown that ECT works for many people who have treatment-resistant depression. One study of 39 people with treatment-resistant depression compared the effects of an antidepressant with ECT. After two to three weeks, 71% of people who received ECT had a positive response to treatment.
Does ECT cause brain damage?
ECT does not cause any structural damage to the brain. The procedure itself typically requires a stay in the hospital, although more and more it is being performed on an outpatient basis. During the procedure, you will be put to sleep under general anesthesia. You won't feel anything.
Is ECT a life saving medication?
It can be lifesaving. ECT works quickly, which is why it's often the treatment of choice for people with highly severe, psychotic, or suicidal depression. For these people, waiting for antidepressants or therapy to work might be dangerous. However, the drawback is that the effects of ECT usually don't last, and further treatments will likely be ...
How often is ECT given?
The confusion typically lasts for only a short period of time. ECT is usually given up to three times a week for a total of two to four weeks.
When is ECT used?
ECT is generally used when severe depression is unresponsive to other forms of therapy. Or it might be used when patients pose a severe threat to themselves or others and it is too dangerous to wait until medications take effect. Although ECT has been used since the 1940s and 1950s, it remains misunderstood by the general public.
What are the treatments for depression?
Some experimental therapies currently being investigated for treatment of depression include: 1 Hormone replacement therapy (HRT) in women: Depression is more common in women than in men. Changes in mood with premenstrual syndrome ( PMS) and premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD), post- childbirth, and postmenopause are all linked with sudden drops in hormone levels. Hormone replacement is a treatment currently used to relieve symptoms of menopause such as night sweats and hot flashes. HRT can also help prevent bone-thinning osteoporosis. However, the true contribution of hormones to depression is not known. Be sure to tell your doctor if you have had depression before and are considering HRT. 2 Intravenous ketamine: The anesthetic agent ketamine has been approved for treatment of severe depression. It has been shown in preliminary studies to produce a rapid (within hours) improvement in depression for and is recognized as effective in some patients. 3 Riluzole: ( Relutek, Tiglutik) This medicine, originally used to treat motor neuron disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS, or Lou Gehrig's Disease), has been shown also to affect neurotransmitters involved in depression, and in early studies has begun to show promise in treating depression that is unresponsive to more traditional medicines.
Why does TMS work?
The current is caused by the magnetic field created by an electromagnetic coil that delivers the pulses through the forehead. Approved by the FDA in 2008 for treatment-resistant depression, TMS works best in patients who have failed to benefit from one, but not two or more, antidepressant treatments.
What is electroconvulsive therapy?
When medication fails to ease the symptoms of clinical depression, there are other options to try. Brain stimulation techniques such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), for example, can be used to treat major depression that hasn't responded to standard treatments.
How does ECT work?
With ECT, an electric current is briefly applied through the scalp to the brain, inducing a seizure. In addition, alternative therapies such as yoga and hypnosis sometimes work for mild depression.
Is ECT safe for depression?
ECT is among the safest and most effective treatments available for depression. With ECT, electrodes are placed on the patient's scalp and a finely controlled electric current is applied while the patient is under general anesthesia. The current causes a brief seizure in the brain.
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 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 to take medicine if you are allergic to it?
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. Keep a list of the medicines, vitamins, and herbs you take. Include the amounts, and when and why you take them.
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 long does an ECT last?
A single ECT session usually lasts one hour. This includes the time the patient will be in the treatment room (approximately 15-20 minutes) and the time spent in the recovery room (approximately 20-30 minutes). Typically, ECT (whether inpatient or outpatient) is given two to three times a week for a total of six to twelve sessions.
How does ECT work?
Why does ECT work? No one is sure how ECT helps certain psychiatric disorders. It may promote changes in how brain cells communicate with each other at synapses and it may stimulate the development of new brain cells. ECT may flood the brain with neurotransmitters such as serotonin and dopamine, which are known to be involved in conditions like ...
What are the side effects of a syringe?
The immediate side effects of the procedure which may last for about an hour include: 1 Headaches 2 Nausea 3 Muscle aches and soreness 4 Disorientation and confusion
How many times a week is ECT given?
Answer: ECT is usually given two or three times a week -- usually on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Typically the ECT treatment course lasts eight to 12 treatments -- sometimes as few as six, sometimes as many as 15 treatments can occur in a course.
How long does ECT last?
Maintenance ECT involves getting treatments every two weeks to every month, usually for a period of six months to a year. But patients have gone on maintenance ECT for up to three years, depending on their response.
How long does it take for ECT to relapse?
However patients given medication after ECT have about a 50/50 chance of relapsing or having another episode of depression. Usually this episode occurs within one to three months ...
How long does ECT last?
Generally, ECT is a short-term treatment where the patient receives 6-12 treatments over the course of 2-4 weeks. However, in some cases, continuation ECT or maintenance ECT is used. These two therapies continue ECT beyond the initial 6-12 sessions used in acute treatment.
Why do people need ECT?
Maintenance ECT: Why Some People Need Continuation ECT. Electroconvulsive therapy, once known as shock therapy, is a safe and effective treatment for depression and other mental illnesses. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is most often used in cases of severe, intractable, hard to treat (treatment-resistant) depression.
What is maintenance ECT?
Maintenance ECT consists of ECT treatments given infrequently over a long period of time after the index series and continuation ECT. The goal of maintenance ECT is to prevent the reoccurrence of the mental illness.
Can ECT cause relapse?
Relapse after a positive response to ECT is common. Most frequently, prevention of relapse is accomplished through the use of medication but continuation ECT has also been shown effective for the prevention of illness relapse.
How long does it take for ECT to go away?
These cognitive deficits have been shown to go away between 1-6 months after treatment ends.
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Is ECT good for depression?
ECT can act extremely quickly altering a person’s mood in as little as one treatment (although, on average, taking about 9-12). ECT is the most effective known treatment for depression with remission rates of 50- 80% ( give or take depending on the study), even for treatment-resistant depression.
Does ECT cause headaches?
ECT can produce physical pain during the treatment. This is muscular and has to do with the invoked seizure, the anaesthesia or both. Headaches are common. This pain is typically easily treated with over the counter medications or, in some cases, prescribed medication like acetaminophen with codeine.
Is ECT good or bad?
Anyone who tells you that ECT is always good or always bad is wrong – don’t listen to them. Instead, try to weigh ECT pros and cons for yourself and consider your own life, illness and situation. Get advice from a doctor who performs ECT that you like and is reputable (get a referral from your current psychiatrist).
Is ECT scary?
The very notion of it is unbelievably scary (to everyone) and people have a right to feel that fear. It’s pretty normal. But, mark my words, ECT can have great benefits. ECT is nothing like sticking your finger in a light socket (as some people would crudely say). ECT is a medical procedure, nothing more and nothing less.
What is ECT therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used to treat a variety of psychiatric conditions, including depression, mania, catatonia, and some psychotic illnesses. During the procedure, a mild electrical current is delivered to the brain, which produces a modified seizure.
What hospital does ECT take place in?
A highly qualified staff of psychiatrists and registered nurses, along with anesthesia experts from the Massachusetts General Hospital, have extensive experience in administering ECT and in caring for patients who undergo the procedure for such treatment-resistant conditions as depression, mania, catatonia, and some psychotic illnesses.
Where is the ECT suite located?
McLean Hospital has a dedicated ECT Suite located in the de Marneffe Building.
What is electroconvulsive therapy?
During electroconvulsive therapy, a patient is anesthetized and a small amount of electrical current is used to stimulate the brain. This produces a modified seizure, which, in turn, changes the activity of the brain.
Does ECT cause memory problems?
ECT has some possible side effects, such as headache, muscle pain, memory problems, and, rarely, nausea and vomiting. Most people who have treatments report very few side effects. The great majority of patients will have only minor problems with memory, though some will experience no difficulties at all.
What is the medical clearance for ECT?
Before undergoing the procedure, medical clearance is necessary to make sure there are no medical conditions that might interfere with ECT treatment . Some patients may experience changes in heart rate or blood pressure during the procedure, but these changes are usually short-lived and easily treated with medication. More serious problems are rare, but our staff is always prepared to give appropriate medical care as needed.
Is ECT treatment effective?
ECT is a highly effective conventional intervention and is ideal for individuals struggling with chronic depression, mania, catatonia, and schizophrenia. ECT treatment can also be effective for those who have not met with success with other types of care.
How long does it take for a syringe to kill lice?
It’s pesticide-free, non-toxic, safe, and odorless, and the manufacturer claims that the formula can eliminate lice in as little as 10 minutes. It’s powered by dimethicone, which is less likely to irritate the skin and is very effective in killing louse, as well as preventing a future infestation.
What is the best way to kill lice?
Best All-Natural Method: Olive Oil at Amazon. "Olive oil is considered a suffocant when it comes to lice treatments, meaning it blocks the airways of louse to kill them". Best Preventative Wash: Lice Shield Shampoo & Conditioner at Amazon.
How to get rid of lice on scalp?
Manual removal involves the use of a fine-toothed comb to remove all adult louse, nymphs (baby lice), and nits (eggs) from the hair and scalp. Chemical removal can require the use of a shampoo, mousse, spray, or treatment gel powered by ingredients that either repel, neurologically stun, or kill the live lice.
Does olive oil kill lice?
Olive oil is considered a suffocant when it comes to lice treatments, meaning it blocks the airways of louse to kill them. As a bonus, it’s full of vitamins, antioxidants, and healthy fats that help hydrate the scalp and strengthen the hair.
How does mousse work?
More specifically, the formula helps to dissolve the sticky glue that attaches eggs to the hair and breaks down the shell of the louse. The mousse is easy to apply and safe to use repeatedly, if necessary—each bottle contains six to 10 treatments, depending on the length of hair being treated.
How to get rid of lice on kids hair?
If you or your child has particularly sensitive skin, reach for a classic bottle of Cetaphil Gentle Skin Cleanser and give this method a try. Apply an ample amount of the cleanser to dry hair, massaging it thoroughly to make sure that every bit of hair and scalp is coated. Then grab your lice comb and carefully move through the hair one section at a time, removing the product along with any louse, nymphs, or kits you can find. Finally, blow-dry the hair on high heat to kill any bugs you may have missed. Repeat this treatment again at the one week and two week mark to make sure the infestation is eradicated.
How to get rid of lice without breathing?
Louse can live for hours without breathing, so leave the olive oil on the hair overnight for best results. Then comb through the hair section by section, removing all louse and nits along with the oil ( the olive oil helps loosen nits from the hair). Once all signs of lice are gone, wash your hair as you normally would.
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 e…
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. 2. Memory loss.Some people hav…
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…