Does Anyone have any experience (in any capacity) of ECT - Electroconvulsive therapy? Anxious for loved one.

[QuercusAlba]

A family member will be starting electroconvulsive therapy soon. I'm feeling quite apprehensive about this: it sounds like something from an old fashioned asylum horror, but apparently the modern version is safe, low dose and done under GA.
Family member is young and vulnerable, but desperate for help. Their psychiatrist has been reassuring and said it's very low risk.

Does anyone have any knowledge or experience of ECT? I'm so anxious about this.
Thanks.

My sister had a course of this many years ago. It wasn't a good experience.

Last year however I had a series of sessions with a Clinical Psychologist and in one session I was talking to her about my sister's experience because it left a big impact on me. And she told me that what happened " in the old days" is absolutely nothing like the modern version of the treatment. The information she gave me gels with what you have heard : that these days it is very safe and very effective. And I know she knew what she was talking about.

I hope the treatment helps your young relative.

Yes. I saw it done as a junior doctor and I have a friend, also a dr, who has had it for severe depression. In the right circumstances it can be transformative. Very rarely used now so I suspect there are no other options.

I saw it done as a student nurse around 1992. It wasn’t pleasant.

A friend had it done about 4 years ago. It helped her MH a fair bit I think but she's been left with memory loss from it.

I had it 30 years ago now, it didn't work for me but it worked miracles for the person who was treated at the same time. I did get a headache afterwards but nothing paracetamol didn't fix. I do have some memory loss but I was also very ill so some of it might be explained by that and it's only a matter of weeks so it's no great problem. It was a last resort in my case as had tried so many medications but in fact I recovered once the right combination was found. I've been well and off medication for many years since. It's not something offered lightly so must be felt to be needed. I hope it works wonders for your young person but if not it might just be a case of trying various combinations and doses.

Theres another thread about this where one poster is desparate for it.

I know one person who had it - it was like some sort of supernatural healing. Incredible - and I felt much as you do initially, very scared of the whole idea.

Thank you all: that's mostly reassuring!

Yes @BeGreatOliveReader nothing else has worked. My loved one has been under CAMHS/ AMS since childhood and in hospital under section for over a year.

That's fantastic to hear @JustAMiddleAgedDirtBagBaby !

Do you know where I could find that thread, @likelysuspect ?

My husbands old boss had a stroke and had very severe depression which was not responding to any of the conventional treatments. He was as a last resort given ECT and it was like he had a totally new lease of life, it was incredible to see. Also a friend of mine is a consultant psychiatrist who says in the right patient it can be miraculous but it isn't used as a matter of course. She also said that she would hope it would be available to her if she ever needed it.

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5040218-has-anyone-had-electroconvulsive-therapy?page=4&reply=152324431

Thank you, @likelysuspect .
I did do a search before I started this thread but didn't find that!

I had a quick scan of that thread, and it's reassuringly positive. Will read more closely after evening dog walk.

Yes - I work in mental health and while it isn’t used often I’ve seen incredible results. If I was to develop a severe, difficult to treat depression I would have it without hesitation. I’ve already told my DP my wishes in case I lose capacity.

Seen it used many times over my years working in mental health,less so in the later years, but it can be very effective and isn’t really anything to be concerned about

When I worked in a GP surgery back in the 1990s, there was a patient with severe depression who had ECT. She said it helped her tremendously.

I’ve worked adjacent mental health services for 30 years. I have seen people with severe depression improve really quickly - people who are not eating, drinking or getting up to go to the toilet ie people at risk of death from depression - can be massively better after a couple of treatments. I know people who find it so beneficial they have a short course when they think they are at the start of a relapse. I would choose it over antidepressants. It’s given under general anaesthetic.

I saw this and thought it said captivity…

Thank you all so much for all your posts! Honestly it's been so reassuring.
I'm the parent of the young person in question. They've been severely depressed for some time and have stopped eating.
I hope the treatment will be successful as nothing else has worked well in the long-term.

🙏🏼

For some people it's amazingly effective. For others, not. They don't seem to be able to predict who will be in which group.

If your relative is sick enough for this to be offered, the treatment is the least of their worries. It's not very unpleasant.

I also saw it done as a student nurse around 1990.
I would hope it’s a bit different nowadays.

My mum had it before I was born, OP, so I can’t speak from experience, but she said it was amazing.

She had suffered severe depression and two breakdowns until she started it when she was 22. Afterwards she did suffer a couple of times with depressive episodes with PND but apparently nothing like before.

And I wouldn't take student nurses' views too seriously. They don't know have a frame of reference for what they're seeing. It's not painful and people are groggy afterwards.

I have anaesthetised lots of patients for ECT over my career.
When I first qualified it was very common and done in most hospitals with a psychiatry department. By the time I retired it was rarely used and in far fewer places. As time goes on, knowledge improves and new therapies become availableand ECT is no longer a first line patients but as I understand it from my psychiatry colleagues it still has a place for certain patients who are not responding to other therapies. I have seen some dramatic transformations in my work and I also have a friend who has severe bi polar disorder who believes ECT saved their llife.
I won't pretend it is a nice thing, but it can literally be life changing and life saving for the right patient. If it's any reassurance I am sure your young person will be cared for by an experienced anaesthetic team and the risks are very low in most cases. I hope they improve soon.

My OH is a psychiatrist and he is very much in favour of ect for the right person. He says it can be absolutely transformative for someone with severe and prolonged non drug responsive depression. It isn’t done lightly.

my mum had it 40 years ago when I was a child and it was incredibly helpful for her. now having it again in later life and there is benefit but not as dramatic. All the health professionals I have spoken with have agreed how helpful it can be. I felt very squeamish and unsure beforehand but actually my mum has been able to have it as a day procedure; she walks to the hospital with my dad then has a taxi back. some confusion after each appointment but has been able to start doing many things again that were simply impossible for her beforehand. I hope it is really useful for your relative, it enabled my mum to be a mum to us when we were young so I think it can be amazing. sending very best wishes