There are a lot of good videos on ECT.
1. A very nice introduction is the video by Sherwin Nuland, a surgeon and author, he talks about the development of electroshock therapy as a cure for severe, life-threatening depression. Midway through, his story turns personal. You can see his lecture on ECT here.
2. A patient who has ECT shares his views on this treatment on video (vlog). You can follow him during the course because he is giving regular updates of his experiences.
Before his first ECT
After the first treatment
Third Treatment
Day 9
After 14 days
His last video, a wrap up
3. This video shows the preparations before ECT
4. This video shows a patient both before and after ECT. There is also some footage of the treatment itself
Sunday, December 9, 2007
9 Videos on ECT, electroconvulsive therapy.
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3 comments:
Dr. Shock,
Thank you so much for sharing these videos and being an advocate for those of us whose depression resists other treatments. When I went in for ECT not a single family member or friend supported my decision: and it was my decision, not my psychiatrist's.
After 4 years of being in a treatment resistant MDE I couldn't take being that depressed any longer, so I asked my pdoc to refer me for ECT. The results were dramatic and, like the gentleman describing his experiences, I felt my mood lift very quickly.
I did have some short term memory problems but they were transient and disappeared after a couple months. My depression was so bad before ECT that it was causing really bad cognitive and memory problems so these short term problems were tiny in comparison.
In part I did ECT as I understood that sometimes after ECT medications will work better. Post ECT I began taking Lamotrigine and my mood lifted even more. Unfortunately, about a month and a half out of the hospital I fell and broke both my elbows (my pdoc suspects the Lamotrigine was causing balance problems as I fell numerous times while taking it). Within weeks my mood dropped and I was back to where I began.
I would however, do ECT again. I believe at the time it saved my life when nothing else seemed to help me. If I do it again I will share these videos with my family and friends. Thanks.
...aqua
I am glad ECT worked for you and thanks for sharing your experiences, regards Dr Shock
Thanks for the videos. I second Aqua's comments.
I've had courses of ECT a few times, and probably half have lifted the depression for at least a few months. The other time, while not getting the results, didn't do any harm.
During the series of treatments, I was able to function as normally as I was before - bearing in mind that the depression does limit what I do anyway - but I have very little memory of the two or three weeks from the first session on. There was a bit of vocab difficulty during that time as well, but that also stopped soon after.
Guess I'm heading for it again in the new year, because nothing has worked for so long now. I remember that I used to have a life, but I don't remember anymore what it felt like...
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