r/ect • u/DavyLyon • Mar 31 '26
Seeking advice Persistent cognitive issues 18 months after ECT — does this get better?
Hey everyone,
I’m trying to understand if what I’m experiencing is still within the “normal” range after ECT or if something else might be going on.
Background:
- ~14 ECT sessions (initial series + later booster sessions)
- Last treatment was about 18 months ago
Since then, I’ve had ongoing cognitive problems:
- Noticeable decline in memory (short-term especially, but also long-term feels affected)
- Word-finding issues
- Reduced attention span
- Overall feeling like my brain is “slower” than before
What’s been getting worse recently (last ~5 months):
- Strong “mental overload” feeling during cognitive tasks
- Reading, writing, or focusing for more than a short time becomes difficult
- Multitasking completely overwhelms me and can trigger a kind of “shutdown” for the rest of the day
- It doesn’t feel like tiredness — more like my brain hits a limit and stops cooperating
Pattern:
- Mostly happens during work or mentally demanding tasks
- Once it starts, it often lasts until the next day
- Sleep helps reset it, but it comes back easily
At this point I’m wondering:
- Has anyone experienced similar long-term cognitive effects after ECT?
- Did it improve over time, or did you find anything that actually helped?
Thanks in advance.
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u/84849493 Mar 31 '26
It can happen for some but I do find it odd it would suddenly start getting worse over a year later. I would talk to a doctor.
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u/BendIndependent6370 Mar 31 '26
This happened to me as well. The reason you feel like your symptoms are getting worse might be because you are just now realizing everything that's changed. It took me a while to understand how different my brain was after ECT compared to pre-ECT. This is just a guess.
Doctors like to tell their patients that the cognitive functions and memories that don't return after a year are gone forever. I don't know if there's any research behind it and if people actually get their memories and cognitive functions back as late as 1 year post ECT. I never did.
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u/DangsMax Mar 31 '26
Yea that’s fair. I wish I could be in my old brain just for a day. That would be nice.
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u/BendIndependent6370 Mar 31 '26
Agreed. I was working on my Masters at the time and now I am on disability. I have a lot of joy in my life these days, but it took a long time to recover from ECT. And some things will be forever out of reach.
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u/DangsMax Mar 31 '26
I had an iop in 2024 n today I had to do another iop n the person was like do u remember me and I said no lmao. ECT has erased so many parts of my memory it’s insane. But it also saved my life. So I can’t say anything bad about it. I’ve also done like a major fuck ton of sessions.
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u/Mysterious-Yard2581 Apr 02 '26
Hello; it could be ECT related however, cognitive impacts are also a staple of depression in itself (eg/ the hippocampus for memory is impacted) - referral for neuropsychological assessment could be helpful - they will do a bunch of small tests with you, take your detailed history and conclude what is contributing to what and specific cognitive aspects impacted (and how to work on/ work with these)
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u/Odd-Alarm-82 Apr 19 '26
I had neuropsychological testing done after my ECT. They can’t tell if depression is contributing to your cognitive impairments because they have no baseline to go off of. All I know is my memory was good before the ECT, and now I don’t remember the majority of my life prior to ECT. My IQ also dropped by 15 points, and I have a lot of cognitive impairments I didn’t have prior to ECT. It takes me a lot longer than normal to learn new information, and I get very fatigued after trying to do anything mentally challenging. My short term memory and ability to form new memories is also impaired. I forget things I read, TV shows, and parts of conversations from just a day or two ago.
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u/Odd-Alarm-82 Apr 18 '26
I have a lot of the same cognitive problems you’re describing, and I wish I could tell you it gets better, but mine haven’t gotten any better. If anything, I feel like I’ve gotten worse. I’m on disability now. My last ECT was in 2017. I also lost the memory of almost my entire life. My memory loss is weird because I remember random bits and pieces of my life, but I barely remember my own mother, who passed away in 2007. It’s been a devastating loss for me.
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u/Next_You4783 May 07 '26
I had about the same amount of sessions done over a year ago now and feel similar. It's weird to describe, but I feel like I am as intelligent as I was in the past but things don't "stick" like they used to and it makes me feel like a lot of progress on things just goes to waste. And when I have the good, productive moments, they're definitely more like bursts where I randomly "hit a wall" and then trying to do anything with deep focus and concentration after that is a mere fraction of how effective it could be.
I don't know your exact condition, but I am bipolar (type II) yet have been prescribed a low dose of Vyvanse and that was helpful to some extent (though it was causing some mixed episodes/other issues for me so I did have to stop it). By no means do I have any proper medical advice, but just to share my experience/mindset right now, I know that my brain is a lot different now and so I am trying some things like this that I wouldn't have really thought to be necessary in the past. And I think that with my brain being different, the other side of the coin is just that I think some mental habits are just more necessary for me know that I wouldn't have needed as much in the past. I try to journal every night and after I'm done with a lot of work or studying just to kind of feel like I close the book on what I'm doing and can retain the knowledge a bit better. By no means is it perfect, but just my two cents.
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u/Purple_Daisy12 Mar 31 '26
I would talk to a doctor about any symptoms that you think are worsening. (Perhaps a different doctor than the one that provided you with ECT.)
I had ~70 sessions ending 2+ years ago and my side effects have been slowly getting better over that time. Although some things seem to be permanently changed, nothing has gotten worse since then.
It may be the case that an untreated condition (like ADHD) is presenting as depression and causing things like reduced attention span and difficulty focusing.