Most people view electroconvulsive therapy as a thing of the past. You've probably watched films about psychiatric hospitals, in which negligent doctors from the past made their patients writhe in pain and scream wildly. But if you believe that modern doctors do not resort to such radical methods of treatment, we hasten to reassure you. In fact, shock therapy is still used in medicine today. Some facts about this method may surprise you.
Truth: This treatment causes seizures
Electroconvulsive therapy does indeed induce seizures. Electric shocks travel through the patient's brain, causing an epileptic seizure. This barbaric method is used to treat severe forms of depression, but no one knows why it works. Gary Kennedy, MD, director of Geriatric Psychiatry at Montefiore Medical Center, New York, says ECT “reboots the system” of a severe patient: “It works the same way as if you reboot your computer. Patients with severe clinical depression return to normal life. This procedure restores neural connections in the brain, and also alters the levels of norepinephrine, dopamine, and serotonin. Restoring chemical balance plays an important role in the treatment of mental disorders.
Myth: ECT is only used to treat depression
Electroconvulsive therapy is used in the treatment of depressive disorders when any other therapeutic intervention fails, especially if the patient is suicidal or delusional. If antidepressants in combination with other gentle measures give an effect, no modern doctor will resort to shock therapy. However, this method is used as a last resort for getting rid of other mental problems. ECT is used to treat bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, and catatonia. Catatonic syndrome is a form of schizophrenia in which the patient's movement disorders are manifested.
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Myth: shock therapy is only used in psychiatric clinics
Statistics cannot provide an accurate estimate of people receiving ECT treatment each year. For example, in America, most states do not require medical reporting. However, according to one nonprofit organization, about 100,000 patients can receive shock therapy annually. Radical treatment can be obtained not only in specialized psychiatric clinics, but also in hospitals, outpatient clinics and hospitals. The standard course of treatment includes six to twelve sessions, which are carried out in 2-4 weeks. To prevent recurrence of the disease, some patients are shown preventive ECT sessions once or twice a month for several years.
Myth: this procedure is dangerous
The first sessions of electroconvulsive therapy were very dangerous due to their unlimited duration. According to our expert today, Dr. Gary Kennedy, the history of treatment with this method is "rather dramatic and obscure." However, today everything has changed dramatically. No experiments are performed on patients, and the duration of electrical discharges has long been adjusted. In addition, ECT sessions are carried out only under the supervision of the attending physician.
Also, some basic conditions must be met, among which is the provision of general anesthesia at the initial stage of the course. This guarantees a fairly mild effect on the brain and muscles until addiction occurs. Independent experts raised the statistics and, according to various estimates, found the following: out of 10,000 patients, shock therapy kills only three people. According to other sources, the number of tragedies as a result of ECT is even lower, with an average of 4.5 deaths out of 100,000 procedures.
Myth: An ECT session can destroy teeth and bones
To prevent the destruction and deformation of bones, doctors prescribe to patients before the session muscle relaxants, which reduce the tone of skeletal muscles. That is why breakage of teeth and bones during an electroconvulsive therapy session is almost completely ruled out. However, there is another danger among elderly patients. ECT significantly increases blood pressure and heart rate. Therefore, before prescribing a course of shock therapy, a psychotherapist consults with a cardiologist. Currently, there are many drugs that help weaken the effects of current on the heart.
Myth: This method is completely useless
The effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy has been documented. This method is especially effective among the category of persons prone to suicide. According to Dr. Kennedy, 85 percent of at-risk patients forget to commit suicide after the prescribed course of treatment. And while standard treatment for depression can last for months, if not years, ECT can help restore the nervous system of a suicidal patient in a matter of weeks.
Truth: memory loss is on the list of side effects
Unfortunately, memory loss is among the most common effects of shock therapy. Actress Kerry Fisher once joked about this in public. In some patients, exposure to the brain current leads to short-term memory loss. This effect can last for up to several days and cover events that occurred shortly before the session. As a rule, memory functions return to normal after a few days. Elderly patients may also have confusion that persists for several weeks after completing treatment.
Myth: ECT is used as a punishment
Most likely, this misconception was formed under the influence of cinema. Films about life in psychiatric clinics in the middle of the twentieth century often demonstrate the method of shock therapy as a kind of punishment for disobedience. Charles Stone, a clinical and forensic psychiatrist in Orange County, California, says the practice may have taken place as far back as the 1960s. Sometimes ECT has been shown to critically ill patients against their will by a court order. On one side of the scale was a patient with acute mania, on the other - his interests, as well as the interests of society. If the second bowl outweighed, shock therapy was recommended to the person.
Myth: This treatment must be used throughout life
As practice shows, electroconvulsive therapy is not the only way to get rid of severe depression with suicidal tendencies. This is only a one-time measure that gives a person an impetus to understand their own mental state. In the future, most patients can manage their depressive disorder on their own. Relapses are treated with antidepressants and other milder methods.
Inga Kaisina
