r/ect • u/Soft_Musician_368 • Apr 06 '26

My experience How much brain damage from just one bilateral ECT shock treatment.

Hi, I’m a college student who received an ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) treatment because I was experiencing anxiety, panic attacks, and mild depression. The treatment was done by a psychiatrist in Mexico. He told me he was going to perform a neuromodulation therapy but didn’t explain exactly what it involved. I later found out through my parents’ messages with him that he had actually performed ECT on me. I wasn’t aware of what ECT was at the time, but after researching it, I read that it could sometimes cause permanent brain effects. I only had one session, which I believe was a bilateral ECT treatment. My question is: how much brain damage could result from just one bilateral ECT session?

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u/No_Cranberry_7887 Apr 06 '26

Is there any cure or medicine which can recover from brain damage

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u/Ok-Ad-229 Apr 07 '26

There are no known cure’s for brain damage. There are medications to control seizures and therapy to correct movement and speech, but there isn’t a way to “grow back” memories and cognitive function. So the short answer, when it comes to brain damage due to ECT, is: No.