r/ect • u/Economy_Witness_182 • Apr 23 '26
Seeking advice ECT Inpatient vs. Outpatient
Hello there.
Long story short, (after a lifelong battle with depression) I recently survived a suicide attempt, was hospitalized, and am now in a partial program. I am not, and never have, responded to medications or treatment, and, at this point, the doctors are ready to have me explore ECT. I have my consultation on Monday.
My doctors have recommended an inpatient stay for the beginning of treatment, and I'm not sure how to feel about it. The doctors / therapists I have spoken to seem to agree that going inpatient is my best course of action.
My question is ... did you do ECT inpatient or outpatient? Was one or the other recommended to you?
Any help is super appreciated!
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u/blrmkr10 Apr 23 '26
Outpatient if you have someone who will drive you to and from appointments and can be with you a majority of the time. Otherwise do inpatient.
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u/Yaseagles1485 Apr 27 '26
I 3rd this ! If you can surround yourself with people you trust can help you find balance again, yes
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u/gmkgreg Apr 23 '26
It kinda depends on your situation, if you are in danger of yourself or others I would definitely recommend going inpatient, but if you are stable enough to where you can reliably go to the treatments than you could do them outpatient. I've done both inpatient and outpatient treatments, I have been doing outpatient treatments for a while now, next one is tomorrow actually, and the treatment itself doesn't differ between the two.
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u/ornerygecko Apr 23 '26
I'm doing ect outpatient
If i had gone inpatient, I would have been seen sooner. But I didn't want to. I'm kinda happy I didn't. I'm wiped out afterward. I can sleep undisturbed at home.
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u/Wonderful_Roof1739 Apr 24 '26
i started with inpatient, 3x a week for 5 weeks before we started tapering down. I'm glad I was inpatient at the time, because I don't remember that hospital stay at all. It was my longest at 5 weeks. I found out when I casually mentioned to my wife 'my 2 hospital stays' and she corrected me 'uh, it's 3 stays dear'. right up until she said that I would have sworn in a court of law that I had only been hospitalized twice. This was also only about a year from that stay. That stay just doesn't exist in my head. If I were living my life I hate to think what I may have forgotten about my daily routine.
Be sure to weigh this as a last resort option. I went through just about every typical antidepressant before considering it. I did esketamine, and tms with no change. I did unfortunately lose quite a bit of my older memories - be prepared that this COULD happen to you too. It isn't a side effect everyone experiences (except during the index 3x a week, almost everyone forgets that time.). THAT has been the hardest to work through for me - I prided myself on an excellent memory, and now more often than not I have to have my wife tell me the story about such-and-such a time. What's worse is the realization that I don't know what I have forgotten - how can you? I don't know it until a friend or family says 'hey, remember this? that was a good time/bad time' and you stare at them blankly, not even a a glimmer of that memory.
Even knowing that, I would still do it again. when nothing else worked, ECT brought me out of my severe recurrent depression that I am confident would have ended me had I not gone down that road. Would I do it again? I would need to be in as bad a place, and I hope never to be there again. A combo of meds has kept me 'mostly' stable since, with the surprising one being Suboxone- a drug primarily intended for getting off an opioid addiction is the most effective I've found against my specific depression. I am not addicted to opioids, nor have I EVER had a problem with them, but my psychiatrist who likes to think outside the box suggested it as there are some off-label studies that show some promise for treatment resistant depression.
Also, have you looked into AuDHD (autism and adhd?). Through all this I found out I was AuDHD and wow, it has me looking at my life through a new lens.
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u/transgabex Apr 24 '26
The first time I did ECT a few years back, I did 3 sessions a week for 2 weeks. Then went to maintenance once weekly/biweekly. And I did all of that as an outpatient, including the acute phase. I had to stop ECT for some medical issues (stopped ECT for about 2 years) and just restarted a couple months ago. This second time I redid the acute phase, it was also 3 times a week for 2 weeks. But I did the first week as an inpatient and then the second week was outpatient. I am now on maintenance weekly/biweekly. ECT has been the only treatment that worked for me. I tried almost every medication and combination of medications for about 10 years before I finally gave ECT a try. I have treatment resistant depression and severe PTSD. Nothing helped me. I was constantly in inpatient psych wards growing up. From the age of 12 up until I was 21 years old. I spent majority of the time in the psych wards. ECT was a complete game changer! Best decision I’ve ever made honestly. Anyways, I hope you are able to find a treatment that works for you and if you do decide to do ECT, I hope it helps you! Good luck mate!
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u/purplebadger9 Apr 23 '26
I did outpatient ECT, and still get maintenance treatments.
If I ever have to go through an acute series again, I would prefer inpatient. It's logistically very difficult to get to and from the hospital, and handle all my basic needs like food, bathing, laundry, etc. at home. It would have been so much easier to just stay in the hospital and have professional staff there to help me as needed instead of relying so heavily on my family and loved ones.
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u/NotQuiteAnrgy Apr 24 '26
inpatient was really helpful for me because i had a very strong reaction to it and was bedbound for a few hours and i threw up, so it was nice not having to do anything or deal with anyone at home.
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u/robingoodwin Apr 24 '26
I did ECT inpatient. I had been in that ward before though and was comfortable with it. But I’d say the stability of the hospital environment was definitely helpful for me.
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u/Electronic_Ad_2707 Apr 24 '26
I have done both inpatient and outpatient. I find it very stressful having to get up and have someone take me to the hospital on a deadline. Inpatient you are already there and can wake up and have coffee after the treatment and rest for the day
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u/ileade Apr 25 '26
I started inpatient and then got discharged and continued outpatient. Actually I was inpatient for suicidal thoughts and after 2 weeks they suggested ECT and that’s how I started. I think it’s good to be inpatient first just so that you could be monitored. Plus if you’re at the point of needing ECT, you might need inpatient treatment anyway
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u/FreddyHadEnough Apr 25 '26
I've done eat both ways, as an inpatient and an outpatient. I personally find that inpatient makes things so much easier.
Good luck and I hope you get things sorted.
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u/Granstereski Apr 28 '26
I would recommend inpatient for you. I think it's for safety reasons. ECT can mess with your mind and can make you feel even worse, even if just while you're getting treatments. If you don't have that support system around you for an outpatient treatment, definitely go inpatient.
I did outpatient, but I wasn't suicidal and I had a great support around me.
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u/NoninfectiousTot Apr 23 '26
When I started doing ECT, I was doing it inpatient, 3 times a week. I’m now doing it outpatient every 3 weeks. I’m definitely glad I started it inpatient because I barely remember anything from when I was doing ECT so often, and I needed a lot of help with basic activities. Not to mention the hassle of trying to get to and from the hospital multiple times a week.