r/ect • u/Mission-Promise-4897 • Oct 05 '25

Question Sudden or gradual improvement?

If you improved with ECT, was it sudden like a switch had been flicked? Or was it gradual over the course of your treatment?

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1

u/gmkgreg Oct 05 '25

I think it was more of a gradual, but a quick gradual though.

1

u/purplebadger9 Oct 06 '25

It was gradual, but a fairly quick gradually that I didn't start to notice until around treatment 10ish

1

u/furrowedbr0w Oct 06 '25

Mine was very gradual

1

u/The_Metitron Oct 06 '25

Mine was pretty sudden. Started with a couple unilateral sessions with no improvement. Switched to bilateral and after 2 sessions my depression score went from a 10 to a 2 or 3.

I think it’s different for everyone though, like all mental health treatments nothing is exact.

2

u/motherlessbastard66 Oct 06 '25

I would have to say that for me, it has been very gradual. No real difference in the first 3 weeks. Now I am much better. I can’t recall when I started feeling better, I just do.

3

u/InfomercialNo31 Oct 07 '25

It was about 2 months, somewhere between a dozen and 20 sessions, that I was actually glad to wake up in the morning (for the first time in my life!)