What is ECT used for?

What is ECT used for?

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment most commonly used in patients with severe major depression or bipolar disorder that has not responded to other treatments. ECT involves a brief electrical stimulation of the brain while the patient is under anesthesia.

What are the side effects of ECT?

Immediate side effects

• drowsiness (you may sleep for a while)
• confusion.
• headache.
• feeling sick.
• aching muscles.
• loss of appetite.

How long does ECT last?

A single ECT session usually lasts one hour. This includes the time the patient will be in the treatment room (approximately 15-20 minutes) and the time spent in the recovery room (approximately 20-30 minutes).

Is ECT legal in the UK?

It is occasionally used in the treatment of other disorders such as schizophrenia. When undergoing modern ECT, a patient is given an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant. ... About 1,500 ECT patients a year in the UK are treated without their consent under the Mental Health Acts or the provisions of common law.

Does ECT damage the brain?

Does ECT Cause Brain Damage? There is no evidence that, in the era of “modern” ECT, it causes “brain damage,” (i.e. structural changes to the brain).

When should ECT be used?

ECT is used to treat: Severe depression, particularly when accompanied by detachment from reality (psychosis), a desire to commit suicide or refusal to eat. Treatment-resistant depression, a severe depression that doesn't improve with medications or other treatments.

Who is ECT Not recommended for?

Not everyone is a candidate for treatment even if they believe ECT could help them. For example, children under age eleven cannot undergo ECT for mental health disorders. People with heart conditions and people who cannot handle short-acting sedatives or muscle relaxers should not undergo ECT treatments.

Is ECT treatment painful?

Freeman and R. E. Kendell of the University of Edinburgh found that 68 percent reported that the experience was no more upsetting than a visit to the dentist. For the others, ECT was more unpleasant than dentistry, but it was not painful. Still, the treatment is not hazard-free.

Is ECT a last resort?

ECT Is Not a Last Resort. For patients with psychotic depression and catatonia, and an accompanying high risk of complications such as self-harm, ECT should be considered as a first-line treatment.

Has anyone died from ECT?

Conclusion: The ECT-related mortality rate was estimated at 2. 000 treatments. In comparison, a recent analysis of the mortality of general anesthesia in relation to surgical procedures reported a mortality rate of 3. 000. Our findings document that death caused by ECT is an extremely rare event.

What is ECT and how does it work?

• ECT has a potent effect on the brain chemicals that control emotions and what it does is that it causes the release of neurotransmitters like serotonin and norepinephrine in a way similar to the way the antidepressant drugs work, but ECT is much more powerful than the antidepressant drugs.

Does ECT really work?

• ECT seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental health conditions. ECT often works when other treatments are unsuccessful and when the full course of treatment is completed, but it may not work for everyone.

Is ECT an Ethical Treatment?

• Although there are many social impediments to the use of ECT, it appears to meet the four ethical principles of health care. Although electroconvulsive therapy is widely considered a controversial therapy, it has survived for 70 years and usage has even increased.

What to expect during ECT?

• During the ECT procedure, a small amount of electrical current is passed through the brain while the individual is placed under general anesthesia. This triggers a seizure that affects brain activity, ideally interrupting impulses, behaviors, or moods that have been causing the person harm.