What mental illness does ECT treat?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment most commonly used in patients with severe major depression or bipolar disorder that has not responded to other treatments. ECT involves a brief electrical stimulation of the brain while the patient is under anesthesia.
What is the success rate of ECT?
Typically, ECT (whether inpatient or outpatient) is given two to three times a week for a total of six to twelve sessions. Some patients may need more or fewer treatments. These sessions improve depression in 70 to 90 percent of patients, a response rate much higher than that of antidepressant drugs.
How long does ECT treatment last?
How Long Does the ECT Procedure Take? An ECT session takes about one hour total. There is time for patient assessments before treatment, receiving treatment (20 minutes), resting in the recovery area (20 minutes), and getting transferred back to a unit (inpatient) or to the driver’s vehicle (outpatient).
What does ECT do to the brain?
WHAT IS ECT? During ECT, a small amount of electrical current is passed through the brain while the patient is under general anesthesia. This current causes a seizure that affects the entire brain, including the parts that control mood, appetite, and sleep.
Is ECT treatment painful?
Freeman and R. E. Kendell of the University of Edinburgh found that 68 percent reported that the experience was no more upsetting than a visit to the dentist. For the others, ECT was more unpleasant than dentistry, but it was not painful. Still, the treatment is not hazard-free.
Does ECT cause memory loss?
Many people experience memory loss after having ECT. Some people find this only lasts for a short time and their memories gradually return as they recover from ECT.
Does ECT hurt?
Who is ECT Not recommended for?
For example, children under age eleven cannot undergo ECT for mental health disorders. People with heart conditions and people who cannot handle short-acting sedatives or muscle relaxers should not undergo ECT treatments.
Can ECT cause long term damage?
Some studies also suggest that ECT causes long lasting or permanent memory damage, they add, although ECT advocates claim this memory loss is caused by depression not ECT itself.
Can ECT cause death?
Conclusion: The ECT-related mortality rate was estimated at 2.1 per 100 000 treatments. In comparison, a recent analysis of the mortality of general anesthesia in relation to surgical procedures reported a mortality rate of 3.4 per 100 000. Our findings document that death caused by ECT is an extremely rare event.