ECT and Therapy??

Basic backstory here last year I attempted to take my life and ended up in a secure ward for three weeks I have had another two hospitalisations since the three week stint and basically I'm back at that same point of attempting.

My partner is wanting me to try ECT as well as my usual therapy and care team appointments.

My question is has anyone had ECT? Do you think this is a good option? Anything really

I am trying hard to resist and have not been left alone this could offer a glimmer of light in what is a very dark place, I feel I need to make a choice very very soon.

Thanks for reading,
Tee

I'm sorry to hear you are struggling again.
I think ect, like any treatment decision, is an individual thing. If you feel ect may be helpful, then go for it.
Personally, I dislike the idea of that treatment, but my situation is different. My main issues are ptsd and self harm, which is not really what the ect targets... I also had a really horrid experience around the threat of that treatment. I had been hospitalized about 25 times in short order prior to being told I needed the ect. I was also fighting the doctor that wanted to declare me incompetent in order to force it on me. I strongly felt that I needed a specialized and intensive inpatient program, but he thought the ect would be more beneficial. Eventually my wishes won out.
Hope others can chime in with more personal experience of pros and cons for you.

Some will say it helped them a lot. Some will say it harmed them. I was not helped by it. I was told it was a last resort for me, but it didn't help.

I have been through two full rounds of ECT, about three years apart. It was very helpful for me and I was fortunate to have very little memory loss. They consisted for me of 9 treatments the first round and 8 the second, done basically on MWF. My pdoc likes his ECT patients inpatient through the first two treatments for monitoring for any problems resulting form anesthesia, severe headaches, severe disorientation, etc. After that, I did the rest outpatient. I had no problems with side effects.

In both cases, I was in such a severe depression that I had been in the hospital several weeks and was still not improving, and long-term hospitalization was having to be considered. I opted for ECT in hope that it would relieve the depression enough to avoid long-term hospitalization, and that is exactly what it did for me. Rather than the prospect of possibly several months hospitalized far from home, I was able to actually be home within the week and depression started lifting within three or four treatments for me. My pdoc calls me the poster child for ECT because it worked exactly like it supposed to for me with no problems. The slight memory loss I experienced was very temporary. I pretty much lost most memory for the time just prior to and during treatments (which wasn't a great loss considering the state I was in). Some of it returned with prompting, but most of it stayed gone. I had no other memory loss, no long-term memory loss (didn't forget childhood memories, memories of my children, etc.) and I had no cognitive loss (was able to return to work with no problem).

That said, you MUST go into ECT understanding that those things that did not happen to me DO happen to some people and they regret ever having had the treatment. You also MUST go into ECT fully understanding ECT is only a treatment--the effects are temporary. It is NOT a cure. I still had to take medications, although they worked better for me afterwards. I still had problems with depression, etc. But temporarily, it lifted my depression, and for me, was a life-saving treatment. I truly know I was headed for suicide and ECT saved me from that.

I personally know three other people who have been through ECT. One was a close family friend who went through ECT in the 1970's. She had life-long problems with bipolar disorder and many long-term (months long) hospitalizations. It was done quite differently in those days and she did have long-term memory problems, but even she chose to go through it several times because it did shorten her very long hospitalizations (mental health treatment was much different back then.) The 2nd is a teacher I worked with. In her case, she returned to work shortly after treatment was over like I did and actually has never had any problems requiring that level of treatment or hospitalization ever again (done by same pdoc and hospital as mine by the way). The 3rd was my own husband. He had more problems with being severely disoriented during treatment (his treatments where bilateral while mine were unilateral) and required more supervision than I did during treatment. He also had memory loss, but like mine it returned fairly quickly once treatment was over. He also was able to return to work after treatment although he needed some extra time to recover orientation/memory than I did. His problems were probably related to the type of treatment used and the fact that he has other serious health issues related to neurology.

In my state, they have to have a court order to do ect in certain situations and I am appointed to represent those people. Very often I find the client wants the ECT - they find it helps them and has fewer unpleasant side effects than the drugs. Headaches are the most frequent things my clients complain about - and certainly not all of my clients report having them or don't tell me about them because they were not that bothered by them. The other side effect that seems most common from my clients' reports is short term memory loss.

Thought of one more thing. Therapy while you are undergoing ECT isn't particularly productive except maybe just for moral support due to the memory issues. I think I met with my T a few times during ECT, but I am fairly certain (not that I can remember much detail) we just met for support and continuity; no deep work going on during ECT. Not only that, ECT is rather time consuming. I would get up very early to get to the hospital by about 7AM and not leave until close to noon each MWF. I spent those days often doing some sleeping due to anesthesia and just generally catching up on sleep because of the tiring routine. Expect not to work during the weeks of ECT. Fortunately mine was always done during the summer when I'm not working anyway and didn't disrupt income. Pdoc would be hard-pressed to get me to agree to it during the school year. I just can't take that kind of time off.

ECT was once suggested to me by a past Pdoc. We went through so many med combos and nothing was working.

If I felt there was no other option, I would do it. Until then, I will refuse. My grandma underwent it. I don't know why, but was told it didn't help. I also worry about the loss of memory aspect. But the worst part is that they still don't even completely understand what ETC is actually doing. I understand that there are many treatments in life that doctor don't fully understand how it works. Even Metformin (diabetic medication), they are still learning what it actually does to the body. Or they still don't understand what the Lexapro or Lamictal will do to the baby when I get pregnant. But electricity to my brain to cause seizures...yeah that worries me.

Thankfully, my current Pdoc actually found a "cocktail" that works for me.

Scarlet, glad they found a med combo that works for you. Mine eventually did also, but it took years and in the meantime I was in a place where I needed help and needed it quickly. So glad you were able to find the right combo before you had to make that decision.

I'd do ECT again if I was in that place again, but fortunately, some of the newer med options and therapy finally getting me to a place where I truly think I could manage through even if the depression got that severe now leads me to feel pretty comfortable that I won't have to make that decision again. I know ECT works for me so the chances that it would give me problems are pretty slim, but it is expensive, time consuming, and invasive. It's a serious treatment definitely not meant to be taken lightly.

Thank you all for your honest answers I need to talk to my T, GP and Pdoc

Things are getting desperate. If I attempt and it works I loose everything it over, if I attempt and it's incomplete then I loose everything (my partner has said she can't do this again) and if I do neither then I slowly loose my self and everything. The thought that it won't work is the only thing stopping me right now

Maybe this is worth a try

I have had two experiences with ECT. The first experience was not helpful at all. My mother hated how it affected me and I ended up back in hospital during this round of treatments.

I am grateful I tried it a second time. This time it helped. I got from truly miserable gut wrenching feelings of depression to being okay. Okay enough to work very hard in therapy. I do not believe ECT is a cure, but it did help me enough to be able help myself. It got me out of those deep dark never ending feelings of depression so I had the hope I needed to get better.

Like meds, everyone has their own experience. Just do what is best for you.

I will be having my last treatment on Monday. I hope that all the work I have done while having these treatments is enough to keep the depression at bay.

I'm doing ECT. I had some improvements - before ECT I'd quit eating and mostly quit drinking, and with two or three treatments I was doing those things again. However, I have had no improvements regarding mood. When they quit the ECT, though, I had a major setback so they started again. And because of the setback when quitting they're saying it must've done more than they thought it did.

In the "treatment-resistant depression" subforum is also a thread on ECT, by newgal2.