What does shock therapy feel like?

On the days of an ECT treatment, some people experience nausea, headache, jaw pain or muscle ache. These generally can be treated with medications. Medical complications. As with any type of medical procedure, especially one that involves anesthesia, there are risks of medical complications.

Does electroshock therapy ever work?

Does ECT Work? Extensive research has found ECT to be highly effective for the relief of major depression. Clinical evidence indicates that for individuals with uncomplicated, but severe major depression, ECT will produce substantial improvement in approximately 80 percent of patients.

What is it like having ECT?

“It was like a mute button muffling the noise of my shrieking feelings.” So what is it actually like? You go in, have your blood pressure taken, sign a form, lie down, go to sleep, wake up with a slight headache and go home. And often, you feel instantly better.

Has anyone ever died from ECT?

Conclusion: The ECT-related mortality rate was estimated at 2.1 per 100 000 treatments. In comparison, a recent analysis of the mortality of general anesthesia in relation to surgical procedures reported a mortality rate of 3.4 per 100 000. Our findings document that death caused by ECT is an extremely rare event.

Is electric shock therapy painful?

Freeman and R. E. Kendell of the University of Edinburgh found that 68 percent reported that the experience was no more upsetting than a visit to the dentist. For the others, ECT was more unpleasant than dentistry, but it was not painful. Still, the treatment is not hazard-free.

Can you get brain damage from ECT?

Despite many scientific and governmental authorities having concluded that ECT does not cause brain damage, there is significant evidence that ECT has indeed caused brain damage in some patients, both historically and recently, and evidence that it always causes some form or degree of brain damage.

Can electroshock therapy erase memories?

Figure 1: People with PTSD are usually troubled by their memories of the traumatic events and suffer from the extreme negative emotions associated with these memories (as shown in the top panel); However, Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) has the potential to erase specific traumatic memories, and therefore help people …

Can ECT change your personality?

ECT does not change a person’s personality, nor is it designed to treat those with just primary “personality disorders.” ECT can cause transient short-term memory — or new learning — impairment during a course of ECT, which fully reverses usually within one to four weeks after an acute course is stopped.

Can ECT make you worse?

ECT may have a role in people who have comorbid depression and anxiety. The concern of some psychiatrists is that while ECT may help with depressive symptoms, it could worsen anxiety symptoms, including obsessional thoughts or panic attacks.

Can ECT make you angry?

Post-ECT agitation occurs in up to 12\% of ECT treatments and is characterized by motor restlessness, irritability, disorientation, and panic-like behaviors.

Can ECT cause brain damage?

The review of literature and present evidence suggests that ECT has a demonstrable impact on the structure and function of the brain. However, there is a lack of evidence at present to suggest that ECT causes brain damage.

Do mental hospitals still use shock therapy?

But electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is still being used — more in Europe than the United States — and it may be the most effective short-term treatment for some patients with depressive symptoms, a newly published review in the journal The Lancet suggests.

How long does it take for shock to go away?

Others in several days, some in several weeks. And for some, depending on what they go through, shock can even go on for six weeks or more. Note that it is also possible to experience ‘delayed’ emotional shock. So you might think an event has not upset you, only to feel symptoms days or weeks later.

What is emotional shock and how do you deal with it?

Emotional shock is actually your mind and body’s normal and healthy way of processing difficult experiences – and it can take time to get through. As the NHS says in their guide “Understanding Reactions to Traumatic Events’,

What happens to your personality when you have a shock?

You could suffer a bit of a temporary personality change after a shock. If you are usually social, you might just want to be alone and hide out at home. Or if you are often the sort to take time out by yourself and be practical, you might find yourself going out every night, drinkingwhen you usually don’t, or doing things like compulsive shopping.

Can emotional shock turn into post traumatic stress disorder?

Depending on the event that caused your emotional shock, and whether or not you are experiencing dissociation, it might be that your emotional shock is the diagnosable condition called actually acute stress disorder. And in some cases, emotional shock can turn into post-traumatic stress disorder.