Electroconvulsive Puns

I am fresh out of a 2 week stay in an inpatient psychiatric ward for a suicide attempt. It was not my first episode. I have treatment resistant, chronic, major depression and have since I was 13 (am 21 now.) Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is also known as electroshock or shock therapy, and it is nothing like what you see in movies or TV. It is done under anesthesia and muscle relaxants. Patients are not conscious. However, because it's an intense treatment, it's used as a bit of a last result when other interventions such as therapy and medication don't work. It also takes place very early in the morning (6am-8am).

I have been suffering for years and survived 2 other attempts. Part of the reason for my depression is childhood trauma brought on by, you guessed it: my entitled mother.

She has never ever taken it seriously. She has mocked me and never supported me. She never helps with rides to appointments or anything. I thought maybe this time would be different. I cannot drive because of the anesthesia, and I need a ride to and from the hospital. I thought maybe since it was a "real" medical procedure (in her eyes) she would be more willing to help. Nope.

"I'm not waking up at 5am to take you to the hospital. I don't need to go to work till 9 and there's no need for me to get up that early. It's inconvenient."

?? Geez. It's not like I was asking to go to the circus. And how inconvenient do you think it is for ME that I'm so depressed I need my brain shocked?? Luckily I have friends who are taking time out of their lives to help me with this. But jesus christ. I hope my mom doesn't need rides to her appointments when she's elderly and I'm the one who will suddenly be "inconvenienced."

EDIT: Holy cow I've never gotten this kind of response on reddit before. Thank you very much everyone for the kind words and advice. Here's some additional info:

-My mother is absolutely a narcissist. She adopted me and then kicked me out when I turned 18 because I came out as transgender, then let me come back a year later for fuck knows what reason but I was homeless and starving sooo. She tends to dangle threat of kicking me out again over my head whenever we have any disagreements, even something small like me leaving clothes in the washer before I leave the house.

-I'm not close with any other relatives because my mother has them wrapped around her gaslighting little fingers. We also live a bit far from them.

-I can't use Uber or Lyft because the clinic will onl

I’ve been receiving ECT Treatments for over a month now. I cannot even begin to tell you how well they worked. I feel like a new person who can take on anything! I want to de stigmatize ECT treatments and make it more normal for people.

I started sawbones at the very beginning and could have sworn they mentioned ECT as a future topic they wanted to do, but I cannot find an episode on it. Did they do one? I've looked through it quite a bit.

If they haven't - I find that really frustrating (esp since they mentioned doing an episode on it). ECT is a suuuuuuuuper controversial treatment and I think would be really important to discuss. I would love to hear their take on it, and actually have some help parsing through the research on it. I fear that it's too controversial they feel they can't do an episode on it, but that is sad to me if its the case.

But.. I'm hoping I just missed one. Anyone know?

Hey guys I’m on streak PMO free But i feel depression anxiety and can’t doing sex with my partner last Wednesday i got Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) then i have 6 sessions 5 remaining wish me luck guys to get rid of depression anxiety night sweats.

I’ve been dealing with my depression for years, trying every pill and dose I could. But nothing seemed to work. After several suicidal episodes that landed me in the hospital, they decided to have me try ECT, or electroconvulsive therapy.

I’ve only had three out of 12 treatments already and I’m about to do my fourth. But I feel really great! Might be actually working or it might be a placebo effect, but I actually feel positive and hopeful after a long time of sadness and grief.

Thought I would just share my story if medication and therapy doesn’t seem to be working for you.

I am getting to a dead-end with meds, and whatever I try does not help. Anyone has any experience with Electroconvulsive?

ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) is an accepted and effective treatment for some mental health disorders today which resist other forms of treatment. However, there is still a fairly strong stigma against ECT in particular today. How much of this is due to the presentations of ECT or shock treatments broadly (e.g. Frankenstein) in sci-fi or horror movies?

i'm so desperate and feel like i'm falling apart. i've tried antidepressants before with no effect, and my psychologist doesn't even really think they will help because we've concluded that my depression isn't chemical imbalance so much as this unending, worsening reaction to trauma i've had that still torments my life. i've been in psychotherapy for years, been to a mental hospital, done a month and a half of intensive outpatient therapy, tried many different medications, drank myself into the hospital a different time, and now i'm at my wits end enough to try to replace the alcohol with weed and LSD because vodka just makes me sick now.

i keep calling off work, and while i'm there my energy is so terrible that for most of the time i can barely get myself to walk around. there's nothing physically wrong with me and i'm a healthy weight, i just can't seem to fucking move right anymore. my therapist said last november that ECT could be a good idea, but i never thought much about it because i felt like i was being overdramatic, since i'm not actively suicidal and i am still working, though i do feel increasingly unstable and self destructive. i just don't know what else to do.

i've been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, major depression, general anxiety, and separation anxiety disorder, if that makes a difference. i'm in the united states.

Please note, I am not suggesting that anyone do this. This is a medical decision for you and your doctors to decide. I have suffered with crippling depression for most of my life and been on every known depression meds known to man. After my wife passed away from cancer it became so extreme that I no longer felt any emotions whatsoever. Although I didn't believe ECT would work for me I did it anyway because I was out of options. It ended up being a life saver for me personally. ECT is often misunderstood which is why I'm posting this. Ask away!

32(M) I've been diagnosed since 18 and have tried countless medications and have had an allergic reaction to atleast 10 of them. I'm tired of cycling and most importantly I'm tired of the depression side of things. I'm also tired of hurting people and losing people. I'm ready for my "normal" good guy me to be around allllll the time. I feel like I'm at the end of my rope and just want out. Have any of you had any experience with ECT? I'd also love to just hear your thoughts on the matter as well. Thank you in advance.

I’m 23years old and I’ve gone through 24 Electroconvulsive Therapy Procedures (Shock Therapy) and 35 Transcranial Magentic Stimulation sessions. I’ve tried overdosing but that just led me going to the ER then involuntarily being admitted to the psych ward. I’ve also tried suicide by cop and now I cannot purchase a firearm due to my mental history. My last therapist called the cops on me too. I’ll most likely try to attempt suicide again by hanging as I am running out of options.

So I'm not responding very well to meds as in they aren't doing much for my depression and mood swings. My therapist and psychiatrist suggested shock therapy. I have this image of being strapped down and zapped, convulsing with my eyes rolling back. Obviously I know its not like that nowadays being under general anesthesia and all.

Anyways, just wondering if anyone has had experience with this or knows anyone who went through it. Anyone with an opinion on it please feel free to share

I’ve been doing ECT since July and have found it extremely helpful. Memory loss is the worst side effect by far. I just want to see how many bipolar people have gotten ECT as it’s mainly for treatment resistant depression and can trigger mania.

I spoke with my doctor today. We are going to try a combination of four different medications, since I've tried so many different drugs and nothing seems to work for treating my dysthymia. She said if those don't work, then the VA would offer me the possibility of treatment with ECT. But they don't offer that (or TMS) unless you've tried pretty much everything else first. Since it might come to that, I was wondering if anyone here that has gone through ECT would be willing to share what their experience is like? Thanks!

Does anyone know or have any theories on how electroconvulsive theory affects kundalini? I have had 3 kundalini awakenings in my life, my most recent was May 2020. unfortunately as a result of one of my actions while dealing with this energy, I was hospitalized and soon treated with ECT for my suicidal thoughts after being hospitalized. What are your thoughts on how ECT and modern psychiatric practices affect kundalini. Im scared Im never going to feel kundalini again as a result of this.

I have bipolar disorder type 2 and my depressive episodes are always pretty severe and medications didn’t really help. When medication type number 18 failed, the psychiatrists told me it was time to try ECT. They said I only needed 8 treatments but ended up with 16 because it didn’t really help at first. They said I would at worst lose some memories in the duration of the treatments. I got better after that but I now suffer from memory loss. I remember almost nothing from november 2018 to september 2019 and my short-term memory still sucks. F28. AMA

Just wanted to know if anyone has had ect for depression and noticed a reduction, change or increase in their pain levels? I might have to get it done for my mdd, so just wanted to know if it has any sort of impact on pain? There's stuff online about it, but I wanted to know from someone who has actually done through it, not just studied the effects.. Thanks all. Stay safe xox

Hi! I’m a 21 year old who has been doing electroconvulsive therapy for about a year and a half to treat treatment resistant depression and bipolar disorder. I know a lot of people must be curious about it so I’m here to answer your questions!

I did ECT over a year ago,during the procedure they connect your body to a heart rate monitor and a EEG monitor(which measures the activity of your brain waves). I did a total of 7 sessions,they said that they stopped doing the procedure because I stopped “responding.” Does anyone have any clue what they meant?Does that mean that my brain waves stopped changing?Does that mean that the voltage of the ECT electrodes actually flatlined my brain waves for at least 2 sessions?Please share your opinion

Hi! I get a lot of messages asking about my ECT experience. I thought it might be good to post this to answer any questions you might have!

Some background: I'm a 19-year-old girl and I'm currently at college. I started ECT in the summer of 2019 (at 18 years old). I am diagnosed with (and have been treated for) bipolar II disorder, GED, OCD, ADHD inattentive type, and body dysmorphic disorder. I started meds and therapy at age 11.

Note: I'm not a doctor; I can definitely answer a lot of medical questions about the procedure, but I'm more here to talk as someone who has gone through multiple rounds of treatment :)

Edit: I also posted this on r/bipolar

Hey all, student here. Currently taking my psychiatric mental health course.

I'm doing my assigned adaptive questions for the semester and I notice that I'm underestimating the prevalence of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the treatment of depression in the inpatient psychiatric setting.

The question will basically ask "A patient is being admitted for severe depression. Which of the following therapies should the nurse anticipate to be prescribed?", and I'm just not selecting ECT as often as I apparently should.

In my unexperienced student head, ECT sounds an extreme intervention; I understand that this patient has severe depression but I can't connect the dots and convince myself that ECT is so common that a nurse should anticipate a prescription of ECT over something like psychotherapy.

Textbook info teaches me that ECT may be indicated over medications in medication-resistant depressive disorders, where rapid intervention is required like in suicidal patients, marked vegetative sx / anhedonia, or in depressive disorders with psychotic features, but these questions don't really imply that the patient meets even two of those criteria - just that the patient is "severely depressed".

A google search will tell me that X number of patients receive ECT every year in the US but that doesn't mean anything to me if I don't see with my own eyes and brain how often I'll hypothetically manage patient with severe depression who receive ECT.

Anyway lol that's my question. How often do PMH nurses take care of patients with depression who will receive ECT inpatient (or on any other setting) / in your experience how often do physicians prescribe ECT for severely depressed patients?

Hello, I am a registered nurse who works in behavioral health and I have a question about ECT and the way the procedure is carried out. Obviously in modern times it is done under anesthesia. However, as I was trying to educate myself and read more about it, sources were stating that the person has no awareness during a grand mal seizure and is unconscious (even without anesthesia). They do not feel pain and often have profound amnesia from the electricity itself. Also, it stated that the electrical current itself is instantaneous and as such does not produce pain. So my question is, if the person during a seizure is not aware and the electrical current is instantaneous and pain free, then why does the individual have to be given anesthesia? Doesn't general anesthesia just create more risks?

Furthermore, as I was reading I read that before the implementation of electric convulsive therapy, seizures for shock therapy were often induced with convulsant medications some as Metrazol that are gaba antagonists. In some places, there as been a rebound interest in using Metrazol once again for this purpose since it's more predictable and produces less post procedural cognitive side effects than ECT. So my next question is, when the person is given anesthesia before the procedure, most anesthetics that they use such as Methohexital or Propofol are gaba agonists or positive modulators. When they inject the Metrazol to induce convulsions, since it is a gaba antagonist wouldn't it totally just reverse the effects of the anesthesia and the person would no longer be anesthetized ?

Is there anyone else out there thats been through this or anything similar.

1. My cognition is quite impaired. Its very hard for me to pick up new or unfamiliar information, and I have to work doubly hard to get unfamiliar concepts to 'stick' so I can clearly apprehand them. I had always been bright enough and quick on the uptake. I find it embarrassing when I have to go over information people are telling me and ask them repeatedly until I can feel the idea start to sink in.

2. I have this weird sensitivity to loud noises. Certain pitches of noise cause a sensation like pain in my head. Very loud, sudden noises, are the worst. I literally find myself cringing and very distressed in situations where I dont anticipate a noise and it is very loud. Simple things like loud speech or laughter can be quite distressing, which is an ongoing problem.

Every time Im in one of the situations above it reminds me that this thing damaged my mind, and I feel upset.

I understand that ECT works for some people and am not knocking that. I have read plenty of success stories, but I cant relate to that experience as it wasnt mine. I feel sad and alone.

Those that felt injured:

How did you fare? How long ago was your treatment? How are you now?

I had my 1st ECT treatment on Monday 9/28, then my 2nd on Wednesday 9/30, and my 3rd on Friday 10/02.

They asked me if I felt like it helped me any on Friday, but honestly I just feel neutral and a sort of restlessness. I guess it's better than always feeling sad and suicidal, I just didn't think it would be this exhausting. I thought I would see greater results quicker.

How do I know that it's working? Do I just go with it until my insurance stops covering it? Will I wake up "normal" and "happy"?

I just don't want to be a burden to my family any longer.

My psychiatrist suggested ECT today and I'm not sure!

I've had an intense mixed episode in April and is on Aripaprzole, Olanzpine, Lamictal and Anderall since.

However, I've been depressed for about a month so they added Sertraline also they weren't comfortable with prescripting an antidepressant. Crossing fingers not to shift to hypomania.

Anyway, I would like to hear your experience with ECT.

So my psychiatrist said if antidepressant doesn't work I should try this Electroconvulsive therapy. And they didn't work. I feel suicidal again...

Hi! I get a lot of messages asking about my ECT experience. I thought it might be good to post this to answer any questions you might have!

Some background: I'm a 19-year-old girl and I'm currently at college. I started ECT in the summer of 2019 (at 18 years old). I am diagnosed with (and have been treated for) bipolar II disorder, GED, OCD, ADHD inattentive type, and body dysmorphic disorder. I started meds and therapy at age 11.

Note: I'm not a doctor; I can definitely answer a lot of medical questions about the procedure, but I'm more here to talk as someone who has gone through multiple rounds of treatment :)

** I also posted this in r/BipolarReddit