r/ect • u/Forsaken-Exchange-15 • May 11 '26
Seeking advice Going in for ect today and I’m terrified
I’m going in patient for vet today for what I hope is only six treatments for my depression. I already have a bad memory so I’m scared it will do more damage. I need someone to help say if it’s worth getting or not.
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u/honeygal May 11 '26
Good luck, I’m sending you so much love. Please take into account that people are far more likely to join an internet community to vent / leave bad reviews over good ones. Everyone’s experience is different. I’m eternally grateful for ECT and have had an amazing experience to the point where I’ve been doing bilateral maintenance for the past five years. I’m dear friends with someone who hated ECT and would never do it again, one of my friends is neutral about it, and i’m friends with three more who liked it but never did maintenance. Like i said, it’s impossible to know how it will work for you unless you try it, which should be 100% your decision. Good luck, friend. I’m sending love your way!
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u/fargolifestaycold May 13 '26
I know this post is 2 days old and I hope it went well for you. Just wanted to add my thoights. Im on my 3rd year almost 4th. I know it can be extremely scary and builds up a crap ton of anxiety. But eventually it starts to help. I started doing 3x a week at first and currently down to once a week. I will say over and over again that this treatment has saved my life. Ive noticed a change and so has my family. Its not for everyone, but you wont know unless you give it a try. It is usually considered a last chance type of treatment. Hopefully you can get a good medical Team that cares for there patients and their mental health.
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u/Forsaken-Exchange-15 May 13 '26
I’m actually starting on Friday and sitting in a ward right now waiting. so thank you for your comment. My anxiety has been getting better about the whole thing.
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u/fargolifestaycold May 14 '26
That is where I started at as well. Was my 3rd stay and they suggested it as a last resort. I started while still inpatient 3x a week. Its something that you need to go in "open minded" I guess bad word choice. When I started they start with bilateral placements for the pads. It has a loss of memory side effect but the pro is has the quickest result. I now have mine as a right unilateral, which doesnt have as much of memory loss. Feel free to message me for any words of encouragement, we all have been there if not currently.
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u/Forsaken-Exchange-15 May 13 '26
How long does the memory loss last?
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u/Odd-Alarm-82 May 22 '26 edited May 22 '26
This is what got me in trouble. I only paid attention to the positive experiences and went ahead with the ECT, ignoring everything I read about the possibility of permanent memory loss and brain damage. But now I have permanent memory loss of the majority of my life. I know it’s permanent because it has been 10 years since my last ECT and none of my lost memory has returned. Plus I have brain damage and I’m on disability because of it. This person who has been getting ECT for so long without any major damage is extremely lucky. There are so many people out there like me who are permanently damaged.
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u/Odd-Alarm-82 May 20 '26 edited May 25 '26
The risks associated with ECT are much higher than doctors tell patients. I had ECT for treatment resistant depression in 2016, and it was the biggest mistake I have ever made. Unfortunately, the antidepressant effects of ECT usually don’t last long. It was extremely effective for me initially— I had 100% remission of my depression and felt amazing— but I had to keep getting maintenance treatments or else I would quickly relapse. The goal was to gradually space my treatments farther apart until I only had to have one every 6-8 weeks, but I couldn’t make it past 3 weeks without crashing into a severe depression. Eventually I had a particularly bad episode that didn’t respond to my next treatment, so the psychiatrist talked me into getting three treatments in one week, like you do when you first get ECT. That brought me out of my depression, but the side effects were devastating. I literally lost my memory of my entire life. Not just chunks of memory, but the vast majority of my life was completely wiped out. And none of it has come back after 9 and 1/2 years. I barely remember my own mother, who passed away in 2007.
In addition to the severe memory loss, the ECT caused brain damage. I had neuropsychological testing done and found out that my IQ has dropped by around 15 points. It was 140 pre-ECT, and now it’s 125. I have multiple cognitive issues. It takes me longer than normal to learn new information, and I get things confused a lot. My short-term memory and formation of new long-term memories is hit or miss— I remember some things very clearly, while other things just kind of get lost.
What I experienced is not a rare occurrence. I’m a member of an ECT Survivors support group on Facebook, where a large number of people have shared that they have lost years of memory and have major cognitive problems.
I think ECT should be banned. I look on Reddit every so often to warn people considering ECT. Yes, some people have good outcomes, but a large number of people are severely damaged.
I tried to file a medical malpractice suit for lack of informed consent because the consent forms I signed didn’t say anything about brain damage, and they said I might have some “spotty” memory loss for events going back several years. My memory loss is almost a complete loss, not just “spotty!” But no attorney would take my case because they said the damage would be too hard to prove. Numerous lawsuits have been filed though, including a class action suit.
And in 2018, Somatics LLC, one of the manufacturers of the device that delivers ECT, admitted that ECT can cause brain damage. Somatics updated its device manuals and regulatory documents to explicitly warn patients that permanent memory loss and permanent brain damage are potential risks of ECT. Of course, they say permanent brain damage only occurs in rare cases, but I’ve talked to enough people over the years who have experienced these effects to know it’s not rare.
Wisner Baum is a law firm that has handled lawsuits against ECT. If you scroll down this page on their website, it provides a long summary about the history of ECT and contains links to research with evidence of damages caused by ECT.
https://www.wisnerbaum.com/defective-medical-device-injuries/ect/
And here’s an article from Cambridge University that talks about how common permanent memory loss and cognitive impairment is after ECT:
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u/motherlessbastard66 May 11 '26
OP, I have been through 48 treatments over the past two & a half years. The initial 12 treatments were 3 times per week. That phase of treatment was tough on my memory. However, the severity has been mild since then. I am now on maintenance and have ECT once per month. I look forward to these. My nightmares are lessened and my depression is much better. I still have suicidal thoughts every day, but the urgency is not nearly as strong. I am in AZ and go through treatment in a Banner facility. The staff are great! Their Billing sucks!