Electroconvulsive Therapy: Not That Shocking at All

When the topic of electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is raised, many people immediately shudder, and think back to depictions of barbaric abuse perpetrated upon helpless lunatics against their will. They may visualize a horribly traumatic episode, with a struggling resistant victim undergoing a full blown grand mal type seizure, arms and legs akimbo, when in reality, ECT as it is performed today is a gentle procedure, completed under general anesthesia.

ECT is not the first treatment of choice; it is used primarily when other efforts have failed. Indications for the use of ECT include severe depression accompanied by suicidal ideation, refusal to eat, or psychotic symptoms, mania that has not responded to medications, and schizophrenia with severe symptoms that are not improved by the use of prescribed medications.

There are risks associated with ECT even as it is preformed today, and these include cognitive impairment, memory loss and medical complications.  Prior to beginning a course of ECT a full medical evaluation must be completed to identify any conditions that may potentially cause complications during the ECT procedure or which may be negatively affect by ECT. Additionally, there are the same risks that are associated with general anesthesia under any circumstances.

Call me barbaric if you must, but I am in favor of any treatment that saves lives. Those who are opposed to the use of ECT may never have experienced the level of depression in which one cannot move without feeling as though they are struggling through a swimming pool filled with jello, when one cannot participate in any normal daily activities, when one loses the ability to care for themselves and their family, when one believes that their loved ones would be better off without them. I hope they never do. But, just in case they do, at some point, develop the symptoms that suggest ECT might be in order- I will be grateful, on their behalf, that it is available.