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Shock Therapy

Discussion in 'Physical & Sexual Health' started by Mitchell, May 12, 2010.

  1. Mitchell

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    What are your thoughts on ECT (shock therapy)?

    I've been getting ECT treatments 3 times a week to help treat my depression and bipolar stuffs.

    I'm starting to feel a bit better, but I still feel terrible. I've been getting treated for about a month now.

    I desperately want to feel happy and am lost as to what to do.

    Thanks...
     
  2. Austin

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    what is shock therapy?
     
  3. Zach1992

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    Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT)

    It's where you are strapped to a table, get a rubber "thing" in your mouth, & electrodes attached to your temples. Then you would have electricity send through the electrodes in a way to attempt to jump start your brain out of a mental funk. It was used a lot in Asylums & still used in some cases today.
     
  4. otc877

    otc877 Guest

    I think it's a far better alternative to a frontal lobotomy.
    Just curious, are you based out of Europe? I know they're more prone to ECT while the US is more keen on medication.
     
  5. Jiggles

    Jiggles Guest

    In the UK anyway we are more prone to people trying cognitive therapy's and medication than applying electrodes to people and zapping them!

    [opinion]
    I think its barbaric ECT. Shocking people to try and fix them. Theres far more "humane" ways of getting over things imo [/opinion]
     
  6. Zach1992

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    I suggest anyone who wants to learn about ECT to watch One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.
     
  7. that, or Shock Treatment =P
    [YOUTUBE]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnvVtCC-nsw&feature=related [/YOUTUBE]
     
  8. Chip

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    Um.

    One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest's depiction of ECT bears about as much relationship to 2010 ECT as, oh, a Model T bears to a Lexus.

    ECT is extremely controversial, and it is generally considered (by most ethical mental health practitioners as a sort of last resort after all other methods have failed, but there are some anecdotal reports of remarkably positive outcomes that appear to last over time.

    The procedure as done today is pretty sophisticated; the patient is generally anesthetized and the shock is applied while they are unconscious, so it is not the barbaric act that it was in the 1960s and before. However, the actual data on results is sort of mixed, and many of the studies and data published are funded or directly done by the makers of the equipment or strong proponents of the technique.

    Personally, I would have to be really, really miserable and non-functional, and have tried absolutely everything else before I'd be willing to consider it. And I wold do some research on frequency, because I'm not aware of treatment plans that call for getting it 3 times a week for a month, that seems kind of excessive compared to what I have heard. But if it's working for you, it's hard to argue too much against it.
     
  9. Austin

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    I would never get ECT!!! Sounds insane! How on earth can that HELP? Rather than fry your brain to death where you CANT FEEL SAD... OR ANYTHING ELSE.
     
  10. Spectre

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    Please do not knock the treatment when you clearly know very little about it. For some people with chronic depression it is their last hope, and it works for them. It isn't like what you see on TV or in movies.
     
  11. Chip

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    That's actually not at all how it works. People who have had it are quite capable of feeling all emotions, grief, happiness, etc... For whatever reason, it does seem to be effective in lifting chronic depression that cannot otherwise be treated. I don't think it is completely understood exactly how or why it works... but for a significant number of people, it does.

    There are some downsides and some controversies associated with its use and long-term effects, but if you're going through life miserable and ready to die... and it gets you out of that... there's a lot to be said for it.
     
  12. KaraBulut

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    There was an earlier discussion about ECT where a couple of members who had been through ECT talked about their experiences.

    Many years ago before medications were available, someone noticed that depressed people with epilepsy felt better after having a seizure. So, physicians began inducing seizures with insulin, ice baths and electrical voltage.

    Forty to fifty years ago, ECT was pretty rough- the voltages were higher and patients weren't anesthetized.

    Today, ECT is done under anesthesia and with lower voltages. The patient is brought into the treatment room, a anesthesiologist adminsters a mild anesthesic, a low voltage is applied and the anesthesia is allowed to reverse.

    Movies and TV shows have portrayed ECT has some sort of barbaric shock treatment, which is not a fair assessment. ECT is the last option after other methods have failed. It does work in many people who have profound depression. The most common complaint is loss of short term memory during the period when the treatments are administered (which is not surprising).

    Having known a few people who underwent ECT, they found the treatments to be a relief compared to the side effects of the medications they had been given.
     
    #12 KaraBulut, May 13, 2010
    Last edited: May 13, 2010
  13. Swamp56

    Swamp56 Guest

    It doesn't "fry" your brain. It also doesn't make you devoid of emotion. It can also work absolute wonders on people with severe, refractory depression. If you aren't sure how it works, then don't make assumptions as to what effects it has.

    Because the person who is administered ECT is under anesthesia and takes a muscle relaxant, they feel nothing. It used to be that this was given without either of those two things, which could cause the person to have severe convulsions (to the point where bones were broken). That is not the case anymore.

    On Topic:
    Best of luck to you Mitchell.
     
    #13 Swamp56, May 13, 2010
    Last edited by a moderator: May 13, 2010