ECT Treatment, or Electroshock Treatment
My husband spent 10 days in the hospital last year. While in
the hospital for a few health reasons one of his issues involved major
depression.
Before his stay in the hospital he tried several
antidepressant medications. All of them worked for a while, and brought him
some relief. But he reached a point when the depression medications no longer
worked.
During his hospital stay a treatment he hadn’t tried before
was offered to him, ECT. The Doctor called the treatment by the initials until
a full explanation of the treatment was given. ECT stands for Electroshock
Treatment. This is often considered a last resort, but has powerful changes in
people’s lives. The treatment consists of several small induced seizures, given
under anesthesia. We had to watch a documentary and a video showing the
treatment as it is currently preformed today.
People usually have a bad impression of this treatment
because of the movie One Flew Over the
Coo Coo’s Nest. The side effects are
possible memory loss, and issues with the anesthesia.
ECT is not as scary as the movies made it out to be. My husband has done more that 20 of these and I'm thankful they are an option as part of his treatment.
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