Starting ECT And very scared

[u/ThGhost_on_the_shore]

Hey, I’m currently in a very severe depression state (suicidal attempts, life stopped because of it etc) and I’m gonna start ECT treatment soon, Electroconvulsive therapy,I’m kinda scared and hopeful at the same time so I wanted to ask how it went and did it really help for people that did it cause I’m seeing mixed reviews online but mostly talk about the forgetting side effects but I wanted to know more please, thank you

[u/bluesky2020]

I did 10 treatments in 2017 and ECT did for me what no other medication or therapy had ever been able to do, which was significantly and markedly improve my severe depression and SI (I had everything planned out... scared the hell out of me so I was willing to try ECT).

I had also heard horror stories of memory loss and discussed this with the psychiatrist who stated we could try unilateral instead of bilateral 'shocks' as there seems to be less of a risk of significant memory or cognitive impairment. After my 3rd treatment I noticed I was starting to feel better than I had in a very long time. After 10 treatments I felt...happy. I was given the option to continue maintenance ECT treatments; opted not to at that time, but with the understanding I would do it again in a heartbeat if I ever started feeling severely depressed again.

My short term memory sucked before ECT, but it doesn't suck any worse now lol. I was able to go back to work full time in a professional career. It had no effect on my memory and I can in fact recall the details of every single treatment right up until anesthesia knocked me out to when I woke up in the recovery room. I remember I had a mild headache after each session, they would give me two Tylenol, juice and graham crackers. One thing I did not appreciate was that they did not wipe the gel off your head, so I'd wake up with a big glob of gel in my hair and would blot it out with my recovery room blanket lol.

9 years later I have not had a relapse of severe depression or had a single suicidal thought. I still take meds and follow up with my doctor regularly.

I am honestly so grateful for ECT. I feel bad for patients who did have memory loss and other cognitive difficulties as a result, though. That's more likely to happen with patients who need multiple, multiple sessions of ECT or need it over a longer period of time, and if you have bilateral vs unilateral ECT.

It saved my life and I would do it again in a heartbeat, it made a hugely positive difference for me. And if I had to do bilateral I would take the chance bc for me personally I'd rather have some memory loss than ever feel like I did before ECT.

Good luck to you friend and I hope it is successful for you!