ELECTROCONVULSIVE THERAPY

SYMPTOMS

In some mental health disorders, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) can offer immediate, substantial changes with severe symptoms.

ECT is used to treat:

• Treatment-resistant depression
• Severe depression
• Severe mania
• Catatonia
• Agitation and aggression in people with dementia

Additionally, ECT is used by:

• Pregnant women because they cannot take medications;
• Adults who cannot tolerate drug side effects;
• People who prefer ECT treatments over taking medications; and
• Patients who have successfully undergone ECT in the past.

Side effects of ECT:

• Confusion – People might feel uncertain right after treatment, which may last for a few minutes to several hours. They may be disoriented and not know where they are and what they were doing there. Cases where confusion lasts for several days or longer are rare. This side effect is more apparent in older people. 
• Physical side effects – Patients may experience nausea, headache, jaw pain, or muscle ache. These generally can be treated with medications.
• Memory loss or retrograde amnesia – There may be patients who would experience difficulties recalling events that happened months, weeks, or right before treatment. These memory issues typically improve for most people within a couple of months after treatment ends. 
• Medical complications – Like any other medical procedure involving anesthesia, there are also risks of medical complications in ECT. In rare cases, heart rate and blood pressure may increase, leading to serious heart problems.

TREATMENT

ECT often succeeds after all therapies are ineffective and when the whole treatment course is finished. However, it may not work for everybody.

Most of the stigma attributed to ECT is focused on early treatment. Without anesthesia, heavy doses of electricity are given, resulting in memory loss, broken bones, and other severe side effects. However, today’s ECT is much safer. While some side effects can still be present, it now uses electrical currents generated in a safe setting to achieve the maximum advantage with the fewest possible risks.