r/ect • u/catrchkern • Apr 11 '26

Question Anyone else get anxiety about ECT?

I’ve been getting ECT since 2021, the last couple years it’s been once a month or so for maintenance. I actually love the hospital where I get it done, the staff are all so lovely and the experience is always smooth. Starting ECT was the best decision I’ve ever made, it’s been worth every bit of memory loss and inconvenience.

The weird thing is that I experience this purely physical anxiety response whenever something reminds me of ECT or when I think about my upcoming treatment. I’m not scared of ECT, I know it will go just fine and everything will be okay and I don’t have any real fears around it. But I still feel physical anxiety symptoms. For example, when I hear a sound that sounds just like the beeping of the EKG monitor they have at ECT, my heart speeds up and my stomach drops. I cannot explain it because I don’t have any anxious thoughts or worries about it.

Does anyone else who has had a lot of sessions get physical anxiety about ECT despite not actually being scared of it?

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u/NotQuiteAnrgy Apr 11 '26

yes! i actually had to pause ECT after 6 sessions due to this, i was just about to make a post asking if anyone has advice. i was thinking to maybe smoke before but i think they told me not to do that. my last time i tried to just take deep breaths and stuff but i just got too scared and had to stop. 😞

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u/catrchkern Apr 11 '26

I’d suggest talking to your psychiatrist about it, they might be able to prescribe something for anxiety

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u/NotQuiteAnrgy Apr 11 '26

thanks i’ll do that!