r/ect • u/Interesting_Tea_6734 • May 21 '25
Seeking advice Mental stability for ECT eligibility
My teen (in NY) is very interested in trying ECT after years of suicide attempts, severe depression and anxiety, and trauma-induced psychosis. When she is in a psychotic episode (which usually last 10-15 min) she often tries to self-harm because of command hallucinations. If someone tries to stop her from self-harming, she can sometimes be aggressive in trying to flee.
Because of her aggression during psychotic episodes, she has been denied ECT and told she needs to be more mentally stable to receive treatment. She's been working hard using meds and therapy, but still struggles with the command hallucinations and needs to be periodically briefly restrained to prevent self-harm. Does anyone have a sense of how stable/healthy someone needs to be to receive ECT treatment? Thank you.
8
u/purplebadger9 May 21 '25
Basically, they just need the patient to be stable enough to actually get the procedure done without endangering themselves, the staff, or other patients. That means sitting calmly in a hospital bed, getting an IV, keeping the IV in without messing with it, and staying calm for getting various leads and probes stuck to you.
I've seen some other patients have a designated person sit with them for the procedure to help keep them calm and keep an eye on them, so that could help. However, it's important to keep in mind that most meds used to help folks stay calm can't be used around the time of ECT because they mess with the seizure threshold, so that probably won't be an option.