Ect

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Having seen the useful responses to the last Dissensus thread on mental health, I was wondering whether anyone had ever had experience of someone in their lives going through ECT (electroconvulsive therapy). Or if someone can recommend something good to read on the subject? I need good information fairly quickly, and I'm floundering, because there's just so much out there. Thanks.
 

mistersloane

heavy heavy monster sound
The Doc says it's only useful in two cases, extreme depression to the point where survival may be difficult, and in severe cases of post-natal depression where the mother and child don't have - literally - the time to be able to wait, and the bond may be irrevocably split.

Aside from that, he says it fries your brain, permanently, and is rarely encountered these days.

I had an aunt who had it who was very happy but had huge memory blanks because of it that also caused her huge distress.

Afraid he couldn't think of any books off hand, sorry.
 

sufi

lala
a mate of mine claims to have had it several times over the past few years, i believe him but it's done him no good at all :(
 

sufi

lala
some cultures advocate a good thrashing to alleviate mental distress, i.e. exorcise the djinns, we have ect as some sort of techno torture therapy instead :( same difference really
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Further question: does anyone know a decent mental health forum on the Web where you might be able to get good advice? I'm looking now...
 

mms

sometimes
i know someone who has had it, it hasn't stopped them being depressed, they're in their 60's now and stlll very anxious and depressed.
 
my mum's had it, she is still bipolar but it got her out of hospital. who knows if it was necessary or not? or if it helped or not?
she has some fairly hefty blank spaces in her memory banks.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
my mum's had it, she is still bipolar but it got her out of hospital. who knows if it was necessary or not? or if it helped or not?
she has some fairly hefty blank spaces in her memory banks.

Thanks for everyone's responses.

Sorry to hear that your Mum is having problems with her memory, Edward. My Dad is about to undergo a 'course' of ECT - I'm of the opinion now that it's a necessary step, firstly to get him talking again and therefore open to 'talking therapies', and secondly to get him out of the hospital. Several (independent) opinions I've had seem to back this up.

From a UK perspective, I must say that the surveys done by MIND were completely useless in my Mum and I making up our minds (my Dad can't really give consent at the moment), being completely illogically presented and showing a hefty bias.
 

tht

akstavrh
that seems a little unfair, they are claiming advocacy for people who in some cases were forcibly electrocuted

surprised that this shit still happens, maybe there is a case for some catatonic patients or those refusing food who are near death but otherwise it seems obscene
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
that seems a little unfair, they are claiming advocacy for people who in some cases were forcibly electrocuted

surprised that this shit still happens, maybe there is a case for some catatonic patients or those refusing food who are near death but otherwise it seems obscene

That's what I thought til aboout 3 days ago. After asking around a little, it does seem (as you rightly say) that there is a case in situations where the patient is catatonic, but that it is failry widely used for deep depression.

I think the MIND survey is incredibly misleading, given the changes that have been made to this treatment (much lower voltage, pulses instead of sine waves, everything monitored on EEG machine etc) over the past few years. THe survey results don't mention this at all, and I find that lamentable. I work in the charity sector, and the amount of bullshit surveys that are done largely for self-publicity is abhorrent.
 

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
hope all goes well for your dad baboon

Thank you. I hope things perk up for your friend as well - I obviously have no idea of his situation, but I'm a big believer in the ability of people to change through stimulus. Obviously ECT didn't work for him, but some other stimulus might.

If he hasn't seen this already, maybe it would interest him:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/medicine/story/0,,1743725,00.html

At the very least, it shows that there are new avenues that haven't yet been explored, and that the future might yield better methods of symptom alleviation for those suffering from depression. The PCT my Dad falls under have been one of the pioneers in deep brain stimulation, and the probability of it being finetuned for usage in the future seems quite high in their view.
 

sufi

lala
thanks, one of his main problems in terms of mental health treatment in my opinion is the colour of his skin; as a black man he has been victim of too many years of discrimination, neglect and brutality due to the horrendous institutional racism in the NHS :(
 

tht

akstavrh
srsly this is a very 'final' thing, if you hold any sway with the doctors treating your father i suggest you think again about employing a very extreme treatment that causes irreversible injuries to brain tissue (even 'good' brain damage)

if it's potentially fatal otherwise, naturally you will want to try every option, however if your dad is simply seen by the doctors as a difficult patient who hasn't responded to the latest antipsychotics and is lingering around their wards then caution would be advisable (this stuff happens, and there are some shit doctors working as psychiatric registrars, it's not usuallly seen as a high rent field within medicine)
 
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baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
srsly this is a very 'final' thing, if you hold any sway with the doctors treating your father i suggest you think again about employing a very extreme treatment that causes irreversible injuries to brain tissue (even 'good' brain damage)

if it's potentially fatal otherwise, naturally you will want to try every option, however if your dad is simply seen by the doctors as a difficult patient who hasn't responded to the latest antipsychotics and is lingering around their wards then caution would be advisable (this stuff happens, and there are some shit doctors working as psychiatric registrars, it's not usuallly seen as a high rent field within medicine)

I appreciate your concern - thank you. I do agree with what you're saying, but tbh i have to place my trust in the doctor's opinion and those of two independents I've chased up. The consensus seems to be that my Dad won't remember the treatment itself (not a bad thing really), but that, given the amounts of electricity that are being used, the rest of his memory will be OK.

One of the independents was a friend who knows a senior mental health nurse, so I'm really placing my trust in them, rather than just in the doctors who might have any interest in getting my Dad off the ward.
 
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