Experience with Electroconvulsive Therapy?

Question

I'm having elecroconvulsive therapy done for the first time on tuesday. Anyone with experience, please tell me how to prepare and what to expect.

Answer 1

There is really nothing to prepare for, you will be unconscience the whole time, expect to have a huge headache when you wake up, ask your doctor what he can give you to lessen the headache, I assume it's being done on an out patient basis. If so, you can leave within an hour after waking up. Major drawback.....loss of recent long term memory ( memories from 1 day to 6 months prior to EST) your memories may or may not come back, if some do, you can't predict when. Also, and I'm not joking, write down info you learned in the last 6 months, passwords, ids, if you moved something to a new place. My wife went through 20 treatments, so I have experience with a person that had EST. another important thing, Keep your sense of humor! and good luck, I hope it helps you with whatever problem they are treating you for.

Answer 2

I would prefer that over the long term effects of psychoactive drugs. It has certainly gotten a bad rap, but largely due to fictionalized accounts.

It is odd how much fiction can be incorporated into what people think of as truth.

What you will have is induced grand mal seizures. Prior to that happening, you will be given twilight anesthesia, so 1) your body will not undergo the severe muscle contractions and 2) you will not remember the event. The entire procedure takes less than ten minutes. Often, several treatments are needed before the full beneficial effects are seen.

If anyone in my family were to have the option of ECT or long term psychoactive drugs, I would advise them toward the ECT.

Best wishes on this, you should be feeling better soon.

Answer 3

I have not had it personally, but have had contact with people who have had Electric Shock Therapy. Many times it is used to jump start the brain to start healing. There are imbalances. They can be helpful.

Please call the clinic, a counselor, or doctor's office or the hospital to talk to someone about the questions you are concerned about. They hopefully are up-to-date on the latest and can take the time to help comfort you, inform you, and help you be knowledgeable.
Often knowledge tremendously decreases the anxiety of a procedure. There have been others before you, and I would think some of their patients had the same/similar questions.

Put your hand in God's, ask Him to care for you, and go thru one day, one step at a time. When you feel yourself getting anxious, hand it over to Him to help carry this burden you are feeling at this time.

Answer 4

I were given zapped some years again, and in spite of the actual undeniable reality that it really is a eye-catching remedy, i'd not recommend it. It does quickly floor someone, pull them again to truth. It also has the unusual effect of pulling to the exterior the govt psychological complicated that has led to the priority. for instance, if there is an difficulty or an experience on your concepts it fairly is causing a lot rigidity that it leads to complications, yet you won't be able to really discover the difficulty then some jolts of electrical energy looks to deliver it up. After the wonder you initiate to ruminate on it consciously. better to pursue a psychoanalytic frame of mind once you've sturdy insurance or a lot of money or a chum who has some recognize-how of that (There are infinite experts who do not cost funds, at the on the spot are not experts, yet have better recognize-how than those who cost funds).