I found this article interesting. It’s about a guy who seems very functional and doing well in life, but apparently he found depression to be problem. He tried antidepressants but they didn’t help him. So he eventually resorted to ECT, electroconvulsive therapy. It’s where an electrical current is passed through the brain. Apparently this guy found it helpful and it has improved his life. He’s written a book about his ECT experiences and his subsequent improvements.
I guess I found it interesting because I’ve been on various psychiatric medications, and I’ve never liked them, but for a long time I’ve thought “it could be worse, I could have ended up having ECT”, since I see ECT as something to be feared, I suppose. I think doctors don’t really know how it works, but some patients do report improvements after having it.
Maybe it would be good to see more articles like this one in mainstream media outlets (this article is from The Guardian which is a mainstream newspaper in the UK). There’s clearly still a gigantic stigma around mental health, but articles like this, where mental health patients talk about their experiences, probably help to break down the stigma.
Apart from ECT, there are two other options for treatment-resistant depression, which is defined as depression that has little or no response to standard treatments like antidepressants.
- Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS): uses magnetic currents to stimulate the brain while awake, typically provided 5x per week for 6 weeks (although there are now newer protocols that are much shorter in duration)
- Ketamine: a general anesthetic drug typically provided via a nose spray 1-2 times per week for 8 weeks
I try to spread the word about these treatments when I can because TMS helped me immensely after trying just about every antidepressant out there with no luck.
Oh no ECT is lifesaving. I’ve worked multiple hospitals that do it and seen it done in person a few times. First of all it’s not anything like it used to be it’s almost a completely different procedure. It’s done under general anesthesia like a surgery, it just doesn’t require sterile prep because you’re not opening anything. There’s just something about resetting the brain with electricity that does… something…? Most of the time it’s done 100% voluntarily for severe intractable depression and even catatonic depression. I’ve seen people come in not able to speak or eat or get up to go to the bathroom or even turn their body often enough to prevent pressure sores and ect basically brings them back to life. Sometimes people come to the er trying to get checked in because they can feel the depression coming back years later and know it worked and don’t realize they can do it outpatient. Literally lifesaving and I wish more people knew about it. The worst thing is the post-ictal forgetfulness but that’s temporary.
ECT is one of those treatments where it either really works, or it doesn’t. I’ve seen it used for depression, mania, catatonia and psychosis. It’s never the first line treatment, though when effective, it really changes peoples lives, and most of the time, it’s quicker to work than medication. So big +1 for anyone considering who isn’t having luck with medication.
Oh hell nah, I read about this a lot and it apparantly randomly deletes your memories.
Like even if you’re desperate, I’d still spend like a year or two trying to archive all your memories before trying this.
But with ai deepfakes, even a video recording of yourself reciting a memory couldn’t be trusted. Like if your skepticism and fear of everything caused you depression, i doubt your suddenly gonna be trusting of everything after it, like your skeptical personality could remain and then you’re gonna start doubting everything. You could end up with “Truman Show Syndrome”.
At least thats my own personal opinions, feel free to ignore this, I’m not a doctor, you’re free to do what you see fit for your situation.
Like omg I feel like you have a chance of turning yourself into that movie character, from Memento.
He talks about memory problems in the article. It sounds like he has good relationships with friends and family who helped him to fill in gaps in his memory.
Anyway, I’m also not a doctor, but I think most doctors would say that a person should try antidepressants for quite a while (multiple different antidepressants if the first one doesn’t work) before ECT is even considered as an option.
I suppose no medical mental health treatment is free of risk. Antidepressants have their own risks. SSRIs can cause sexual dysfunction, heart problems, sleep problems, and so on. But I suppose some people find their mental health to be bad, and not getting better, so they are willing to try medical treatments, starting with the lowest-risk options like SSRIs, before potentially trying other treatments.
What if memories are what makes you depressed? What good keeping memories of a life ill lived? I’d rather have a good life from now on than be plagued and pulling dead weight
Fuck anyone recommending electro-shocking a human brain.
That’s fucking extremely barbaric.
“Doctors don’t know how it works”. If you’re stupid enough to go through with a procedure that doctors do not understand after using it for a hundred years, you deserve to have your brain fried like an egg.
Some barbaric things we still do:
- cut limbs off
- give people poison (chemo)
- remove organs
- put electrodes in brains (Parkinson’s)
Some things we don’t understand:
- the mechanism of action of propofol, paracetamol, and other anaesthetics
- why placebos work
You may consider the above items barbaric but I’m wagering you’d undergo the treatments.
ECT is weirdly safe, and (nowadays, eesh) they only give it to profoundly depressed people as a last resort. I think the benefit of treatment beats the cost of the disease
Doctors don’t fully understand how antidepressants work either.
Maybe we shouldn’t judge patients so much for resorting to treatments. The guy who is the subject of the article also wrote this article (archive link here) and he says he tried multiple kinds of antidepressants before resorting to ECT.
Maybe it’s a reflection of the human desire to keep going and keep trying things when every avenue seems to have been exhausted. It sort of reminds me of articles I’ve read (like this one) about people who have broken the law to get cannabis-based medications to treat epilepsy, when other medications haven’t worked. Someone like that might not want to break the law, but they feel it’s the only way they can get a treatment that works, even if that treatment has drawbacks.
