Are you bipolar or an addict looking for insight from a like-minded soul? Have a loved one suffering from bipolar or addiction and want some inside advice? While I’m not a doctor or medical expert, I can tell you about my experiences with this dual diagnosis and look to support others with replies. Note that your submission may be used in an upcoming blog post, although names will be changed.
This week Ryan T. writes:
I’ve tried every antidepressant under the sun and I’m still wallowing in a deep depression. Is electroshock therapy still used and is it a viable option?
We’ve seen it in movies – think Jack Nicholson in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest or Malcolm McDowell in A Clockwork Orange. In the case of both films, electroshock therapy is shown as a punishment. The efficacy of the treatment is shrouded in mystery.
But electroshock therapy is not archaic, as some would believe. The treatment has evolved.
According to the Mayo Clinic, there is a huge stigma for the procedure because, in the past, the treatments were given without anesthesia and were high voltage, resulting in loss of memory, broken bones, or other serious side effects.
Contrary to popular belief, the treatment is still used, even 70 years after its debut; it’s just called by a different name: electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT.
ECT is performed on approximately 100,000 people per year, according to Mental Health America.
An article in The Atlantic describes current ECT as “the fine watercolor to electroshock therapy’s finger painting.”
ECT is primarily used as a last resort for depression when other treatments, such as antidepressants, have failed.
The procedure involves a small voltage of electricity intentionally pulsed through the brain, resulting in a mild seizure.
And to be sure, there are drawbacks. Memory loss and confusion are two of the biggies. Immediately following a treatment, patients may experience vomiting, headaches, muscle aches, and jaw pain. Serious heart problems can occur.
The seizure lasts less than one minute.
Usually it takes two to three treatments to notice a difference in your symptoms. Following an ECT regimen, the patient may return to taking antidepressants or continue with more ECT treatments in the future.
The procedure is still controversial. A website called ECT Justice! advocates for the halt of ECT therapy or the use of it only in the most extreme cases. “If you are an ECT survivor please know that you are not alone! Together we can make a difference,” the website says. There were 30 anti-ECT protests staged on May 16 throughout the country and internationally. Opponents of ECT believe it is unsafe because of the likelihood of “permanent injury,” including memory loss and confusion.
The American Psychiatric Association says brain damage is not a side effect of ECT.
“It’s dramatically effective for our patients with the most serious forms of psychiatric illness. For them, it can literally be lifesaving,” Charles Kellner, chief of geriatric psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York told US News and World Report. “It also clearly releases the neurochemicals that control our moods in a way that’s similar to, but more powerful than, the antidepressant medications.”
If you’ve already tried everything else, I wouldn’t rule out ECT. I myself have endured the most excruciating of depressions and I know that when you’re deeply depressed you will try anything, anything to pull yourself out of it. If my antidepressants and lithium didn’t work, I would definitely consider ECT.
