When medication fails to ease the symptoms of clinical depression, there might be other options to try, such as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). What Is Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is one of the safest and most effective treatments available for depression and bipolar disorder . Electrodes are placed on your scalp and a finely controlled electric current is applied while you are under general anesthesia. The current causes a brief seizure in the brain. ECT is one of the fastest ways to ease symptoms in patients who are severely depressed or suicidal. It’s also very effective for patients who have mania or several other mental illnesses.
ECT is generally used when severe depression doesn’t respond 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.
Despite ECT being around for over 80 years, many people still don’t really understand it. Often, the risks and side effects aren’t related to the treatment itself but to people not using the equipment as they should, the shocks not being administered properly, or the people doing the treatment not being trained properly. It’s a misconception that ECT is a "quick fix" to use instead of long-term therapy or hospitalization. And it’s not true that patients are painfully "shocked" out of depression during ECT. Entertainment, news reports, and media coverage have driven the misinformation surrounding this treatment.
The history of ECT
ECT was first tried on a human in 1938, on a man with schizophrenia who was having a psychotic episode. The treatment was successful. By the 1940s, ECT became popular across the world. The treatment was improved and eventually became the go-to treatment for serious mental illness.
As research into mental health progressed, some scientists and doctors believed that ECT was cruel and shouldn’t be used, especially as new medications were developed. By the 1960s and 1970s, ECT fell out of favor and medications took over. However, by the 1980s, psychiatrists returned to ECT for some of their patients. While it’s not usually a […]
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