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.

Transformed the mental health of a relative of mine last year

My mum had it in the 80s to treat severe post natal depression. It seemed to work though my mum was never sure if it was the therapy itself, or the shock to her personally to think what was happening to her...that somehow it "shook her out of it". I was obviously a baby so have no memory of that period.

It’s really good. All done under general anaesthetic. Works brilliantly and quickly for severe depression.

I have seen it administered and treated patients having ECT over many years and for some people with treatment resistant disorders, it can genuinely be lifesaving.

I nursed a young woman many years ago who wrote about her experience and she literally described her ECT as lifesaving. It was very powerful and I’ve never forgotten her.

More recently I was working with older people and saw it save so many patients with life threatening depression.

I would have ECT.

I dated someone many years ago who needed it regularly just to stay alive. Without it he was catatonic. He missed a session once and his mental decline was rapid over the course of a week. It’s amazing on the right people.

My auntie had it. She did it voluntarily but really regretted it.

I’m a psychiatrist and I personally prescribe it once a year or so, but in my unit there is at least one person receiving it most of the time, sometimes 2 or 3.

it is an incredibly effective treatment. If I ever develop major depression, I want to have it. I don’t want to spend 6 weeks or more waiting for antidepressants to kick in, becoming more unwell in that time etc.

in terms of perception, people often have ‘cuckoo’s nest’ ideas of what it is, but in reality it’s underwhelming to watch. It’s a safe, simple procedure, nothing dramatic or barbaric.

Thank you all so much!
I'm feeling so much more positive about this, and hopeful for a good result.
The psychiatrist did say the GA was a bigger risk than the ECT, and a short GA isn't much risk at all.

I think it was the image conjured up that stuck in my head, the "cuckoo's nest" idea as @sammylady37 said, with old hospitals, patients strapped down etc. that haunted me.

I appreciate everyone taking the time to share your experiences and expertise to reassure me.

My dad had it in the old days around 1980s and it as the only thing that worked and he was saying he was feeling suicidal
thankful something worked for him
and I’m sure it must have come along way they wouldn’t do that treatment likely so if the drs think it’s needed it’s worth a shot

hope it helps

He did say you had to make sure you took painkillers after though as you would get a terrible headache that was unbearable
but again that’s probably all changed and improved now

I’ve witnessed it multiple times. It’s really amazing for many people. People who had had multiple treatments with no success.

not one flew over the cuckoo’s nest anymore!

I've just NC for this, it's definitely not a secret and I talk about it but could be identifying with other posts.
I have had ECT. I had a prolonged episode of post natal depression. To be honest I can't remember much about it mainly because I was so unwell. I was an in patient on a mental health unit and they had tried many different types of medication. It was a last resort for me and it probably saved my life. I've been told i had six sessions. I remember being taken to the main hospital a couple of times and being given an anaesthetic. I felt it was a relief to go to sleep although i think it perhaps only takes a few minutes. The medics on here will know. I don't really remember much beyond that. I was in hospital for about 10 months in total.
It was a horrible period in my life and I'm hugely grateful for the amazing care I got. I assume that if your relative is being offered it they really must need it. I am a normal?! functioning person now. No one would ever know. I have no side effects from it and I'm here! If I had a relative that needed it I'd be sad they were so ill to get to that point but glad they were being helped. Hope that helps reassure you OP. Ask me anything else about the detail and I'll ask my husband!

I gave ECT as a junior doctor several years ago with supervison from the consultant. As an experience because the patients I gave it to had previously had it, they were fine. It works wonders in some people but even then it was a last resort, tried other conventional treatment and no better, indication.

My Aunt had it several times during her life. It always worked for her. She would be tired for a few days after, but once through that, was able to function normally again. She reacted better to ECT than medication.

Thanks for sharing your experience, @RedOmeansNo I'm so pleased you had a positive experience of ECT - or, at least, a positive result. I'm sorry you were so unwell at what should have been a joyous (if exhausting) time of your life.

Yes, my child is very unwell. Will never be totally normal for other reasons, but hopefully will be able to live independently and study/work at some point; or, at least, be healthy and content.