Question:
I’ve had ECT a lot (at least 30 times in the past 3 years) and I agree it’s useful sometimes. Of course it’s a last resort for the treatment resistant or the suicidal in imminent danger (I was the former). I didn’t find it "torture" although I was terrified the first time, and I bit my tongue once and that hurt like hell. The doc doing it was great. Anything that snaps you out of a particularly long or particularly nasty depression is worthwhile in my book.
Response:
I witnessed a friend’s ECT first hand, daily. The doctors WERE torturing her, not trying to help. Because they could. And to my eternal shame, because I let them. They knew it. It was nothing less than human experimentation. I’m glad you had good results, but if you ask ANYONE IN THE ENTIRE MEDICAL FIELD, they will tell you that they have no idea why ECT works when it does and how it works if it does. If you cannot repeat the experiment and get the same results, it isn’t science. I’s less than voodoo. My friend STILL had to take anti-depressants after the ECT. So which one worked? Jim "Must the breathing pay for those who breathe in and don’t breathe out? There’d be no game brother, if no one’d play…" Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) "Petrified Forest" from "Lick Off My Decals Baby"
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I`ve had ECT in ten series, each serie for about 5-6 treatments. They are tremendously effective on my deep depressions. Now I eat Neurontin and Lamictal and I feel well stabilised so far. Thank you James ! Sorry for my bad English. — regards Josef zero.spam_m8639.abc.se_zero.spam To mail please remove "_zero.spam_"
> I don’t agree. I had ect last nov. and it helped me
tremendously
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> I witnessed a friend’s ECT first hand, daily. The doctors WERE torturing her, > not trying to help. Because they could.
I witnessed a friend of mine who was studying to be a literary critic being turned into a retard by frivolous use of ECT. The same doctor who was abusing me at the time took exception to something he told her and decided to destroy his brain. He died not too long ago, actually, after struggling for about five years. Whenever someone says ECT does anything good, I think of him and want to punch their face in. — –Qliphoth Evilbastard * Listowner, Esoteric-Emotions (http://www.onelist.com/subscribe.cgi/esoteric-emotions) "The ability to speak does not make you intelligent…" (Qui-Gon Jinn)
Response:
> > I witnessed a friend’s ECT first hand, daily. The doctors WERE torturing her, > not trying to help. Because they could.
Hi, I have to disagree with the negative opinions on ECT. Like I’ve said before, I work in the Psychiatry department of a large teaching hospital, and I can think of a number of patients who have gotten MUCH better after ECT. Of course, purposely inducing a seizure in someone sounds terrible, and the idea of it clearly has evoked a strong emotional response in a lot of people – but perhaps a look at some scientific facts would be preferable. Fact 1) patients receiving ECT are given muscle relaxants and anesthesia. If you observe someone receiving ECT, basically you see a motionless person lying asleep on a table. They DO NOT have the stereotypical tonic/clonic movements typically associated with seizures, and they have no memory of the ECT. It’s not clear to me how a motionless sleeping person would look tortured. 2) Its true that scientists don’t really know how or why it works – the idea to try it came from an empirical observation that patients with seizure disorders and comorbid psychiatric problems often experienced a lessening of those symptoms following a seizure. Nobody knows how Lithium works either, its use is also empirically based rather than hypothesis-driven. (An example of a hypothesis driven treatment would be an SSRI like fluoxetine or sertraline). In short, we use it because it works. 3) ECT has practically no side affects, except for some short-term memory loss which clears up. Compare this with some of the wretched side effects we’ve probably all experienced at some point – nausea, diarrhea, tremor, sedation, hair loss, etc. In fact a recent paper has even demonstrated its utility in treating depression in elderly patients with dementia. These types of patients are always particularly prone to side effects from meds, but when given ECT, most were improved and suffered no long-term cognitive effects. 4) ECT has been around a long time (since at least the fifties, and experimentally even before). Does that mean it’s outdated? Maybe… What it definitely means is that there is TONS of data on its safety and efficacy. That kind of long-term data just doesn’t exist on new drugs like lamotrigine or gabapentin. What are the long-term (20 years or more) effects of taking these drugs? It’s a big question mark. The recent "Redux" debacle is a prime example of the fact that even the most extensive pre-approval trials can’t predict everything that could possibly happen in the future when a new drug is put on the market. In short, there is MUCH to be said for treatments that are "tried and true". Jeannie Before you buy.
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I don’t agree. I had ect last nov. and it helped me tremendously. I had short term memory loss for a few weeks but after that everything was fine. I would recommend it to anyone. I had 6 treatments in a matter of 2 weeks. Last year I was hospitalized 3 times, the last time being for 6 weeks. This year I have only been there once and that was only for 6 days and it was my fault I landed in there. Have you had ect? fuzz
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and psychiatrists who continue to use it are out of control. Jim "Must the breathing pay for those who breathe in and don’t breathe out? There’d be no game brother, if no one’d play…" Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) "Petrified Forest" from "Lick Off My Decals Baby"
Response:
When I was in the hospital I used to look thru a small window and watch them do ECT all day long on tuesdays and wendsdays. I always talked to the people right after it, they seemed to be ok after it. and they were discharged sooner than those of us that did not get ECT treatments It was only used on people that were very, very depressed. All I know is this, I was very afraid of ECT at the time, I did not ever want to get it, so I figured that if anyone ever asked me if i was depressed I would say Hell no I feel fine and it worked I never got depressed
– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text ->and psychiatrists who continue to use it are out of control. >Jim >"Must the breathing pay for those who breathe in and don’t breathe out? >There’d be no game brother, if no one’d play…" >Don Van Vliet (aka Captain Beefheart) >"Petrified Forest" from "Lick Off My Decals Baby"
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) and I guess I’m happy sometimes at least a little while every day…… 
— Gary Cooper