Okay I know its Christmas and all, and I should be like ho, ho, ho and full of fun anecdotes to share, but given my recent experiences, Ive gone searching online for information on ECT. Unfortunately Ive found it all very one sided- one way or the other. Thus, this was my reply to one persons hour-long lecture posted to YouTube. Im sharing it here for anyone who can withstand the heavy thinking, despite the end of term being best-suited for emptying our heads! Heres the link for anyone interested: https://youtube/watch?v=G6IVkljYgZs And heres my reply: Although this is a good, general overview of the history of treatment of mental illness, I find it disturbing to find yet another medical view which ignores much of the patients reactions to ECT as a treatment. I recently underwent a course of 12 ECTs over a period of 4 weeks. (Altogether I was in hospital for treatment for almost 3 months.) I am well aware of the nature of my condition- which is one of a major depressive disorder. I am well aware of the symptoms I have suffered throughout my life but I am also aware of what I have not experienced, I have never suffered from mania or hallucinations or psychotic episodes. That is, until ECT. I cannot remember the experiences I had (and have been told that I will most likely never remember experiences from this period) but I have evidence of some extremely radical behaviour- that which is totally out of character for me. Tonight my nephew showed me a message I sent him after one treatment. In the message I tell him that I love him and hope he has a great future, but that I simply cannot go on. On several occasions after ECT I recall waking up feeling that I was somewhere foreign. Each time the place in my imagination was more and more horrific. The final time I actually believed I was in a Nazi concentration camp and had just been subjected to radical experimentation. In the most psychotic instance, I ran from the treatment room and was found down the road (still in my nightwear) attempting to climb a safety fence to go onto a railway line. I was intending to lay on the tracks. I had specifically chosen a place further up the track where the trains were still moving with some speed. Of course, I do not remember anything of this incident and all the related intervention of police and members of the public; being taken to a secure wing of a public hospital by ambulance after being scheduled by my doctor; any of the treatment given; no idea of how many days I spent there; and no idea how I returned to the original hospital. Apart from the most-likely permanent memory loss of this 4-week period of ECT (and there are many routine things such as going out for dinner or people visiting that I have no recollection of), I seem to be suffering from memory loss going back about 18 months. I returned to my workplace to see my colleagues this week. People that I have known for several years were still clear in my mind. But I had great difficulty placing anyone that I have only known for 1-2 years. In most cases I knew that I was familiar with them; I knew with whom I had a warm and open relationship; but I could not remember their name or what was their function and placement in the organisation. I am having the same problem with a number of aspects- people and places- from the past 18 months. I am beginning to put the pieces of the jigsaw back together but it will take some time. It may be too early for me to comment on whether ECT was effective in the treatment of my depression. At this stage, it certainly traumatised me and left me feeling worse (eg more suicidal) than I have ever felt before. However I am willing to give this a chance and wait and see if the improvement comes in due course. The thing that does concern me is that the medical staff, in particular my psychiatrist, was unwilling to believe any of the effects that I have described here. He was determined to maintain the mantra that ECT is effective for everyone. He was determined to tell me that he could see an improvement in my demeanour! How is it that me- a non-scientist- is open to the possibility that something may work despite the contradictory evidence so far? Whilst my psychiatrist- a supposed scientist by training and profession- is not willing to be so open to the evidence? Surely that goes against the ideology of scientific reasoning? I would really love to see some reasoned arguing on the effects of ECT by both this presenter and others who have put their videos on YouTube. It seems to run to the extremes of those who are pro and those who are anti-ECT. It would be helpful for those considering the procedure (and for doctors in deciding to recommend it) if there were some valid arguments and a much greater breadth of documenting and discovery.
Posted on: Fri, 19 Dec 2014 13:05:39 +0000
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