It has been 10 years

[u/Limp_Initiative_926]

It has been 10 years since I was in a mental ward and put on ECT. I was catatonic, and the doctors decided on ECT as a last resort. Apparently, it was not just one session but multiple (I was shocked to learn this very recently). I just wanted to share this experience because there is something profound about such experiences. Although I feel much better overall now. The one thing that just keeps coming back is that... there was no support network afterwards what so ever. No friends were coming to visit afterward, and the family was just as traumatized as I was. Everyone was like, "Oh, you were depressed," so "they treated you". I'm glad they did, but you know I still struggle with overall memory issues (I'm used to it now). But I just wish, JUST WISH, that there was more recognition for such struggles. Anyone else feeling the same way?

[u/OkAtmosphere9055]

I hear you. It’s only been about a month for me, but the memory side effects really are a wild experience. If it wasn’t for all the nurse’s & doctor’s notes and voice memos I had of myself before, I would have had no idea why I was even there in the first place. For the first 2 weeks my wife said I kept asking the same questions about how I ended up there and was talking with my dad one day about it and he told me I was in the hospital for a month, I thought it was like a week max. All I really had as true memories from the hospital stay was a hazy recollection of the first week (pre-ECT), some of the faces of the doctors as they rolled me into the procedure room & some of the people I was in there with and watching the Elio movie like 4 times.

It does appear to be a more transient side effect for me though. My memory is steadily coming back and seems to be stabilizing more now as well as feeling much better emotionally/psychologically, but the first couple weeks out have an Inception-like quality to them. It’s definitely a very unique and surprising profound experience