My Support Forums - View Single Post - Bipolar 101 -- Answers to basic questions

Camelotsgirl · Jan 03, 2010 at 12:08 PM

Hi there,
I went through ECT treatments years ago....I had overlapping diagnosis of bipolar disorder with major depression, PTSD, and a dissociative disorder. I think there was so much going on at once, medications weren't enough. I went through three 6-8 week sessions of ECT over a two year period. The first and second sessions seemed to hlep quite a bit. It wasn't too scarey....you fall asleep with the anesthetics and then wake up and it's over. The third session I had didn't seem to help as much and I had one treatment which affected my short and long term memory some.
I thought that all was lost until I finally hit upon a medication combination that really worked for me. In retrospect, I think meds help some, but what is most important is the therpay and life skills learned over time to live with depression. Find balance in your life to keep your stress levels at bay. Good luck.

Quote:

Originally Posted by psychtech9

hello everyone,

I would like to know, if anyone who was diagnosed with bipolar I or II disorders has ever had electric-convulsive-therapy? Has it been effective in treating your bipolar illness? Any long-term side-effects such as short-term memory loss?

If you care to share, it will be very helpful to me. I will be ongoing this surgical procedure within a week to 10 days? Any thoughts or comments for me, would be extremely helpful for me!