Electroconvulsive therapy is a safe procedure. Dental fractures are a rare adverse effect, with there being a number of reports of malpractice claims for dental injuries acquired during ECT. During ECT, the muscles of the jaw can contract and exert high pressure on the teeth.
Does ECT cause permanent damage?
Some studies also suggest that ECT causes long lasting or permanent memory damage, they add, although ECT advocates claim this memory loss is caused by depression not ECT itself.
What are the long term side effects of ECT?
But some people experience more long-lasting or permanent memory loss, including losing personal memories or forgetting information they need to continue in their career or make sense of their personal relationships. Some people also find they have difficulty remembering new information from after they've had ECT.
What is a major side effect of electroconvulsive shock therapy ECT )?
The most common side effects of ECT on the day of treatment include nausea, headache, fatigue, confusion, and slight memory loss, which may last minutes to hours. These risks must be balanced with the consequences of ineffectively treated severe psychiatric disorders.
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.
What is the success rate of ECT?
What is the Success Rate of Electroconvulsive Therapy? ECT is an effective medical treatment option, helping as many as 80-85 percent of patients who receive it.
Does ECT wear off?
The degree of improvement. The treatments may bring a full recovery, a partial recovery, or in some cases, no benefit at all. The duration of improvement (how long recovery lasts). The benefits of ECT may last for years or they may disappear in a matter of weeks.
How many ECT treatments is too many?
It is important to realize that a ‘course ‘ of ECT entails a series of treatments given 2-3 times per week until maximal improvement has occurred. Most patients require 6 to 12 total treatments.
When should ECT not be used?
a past history of moderate or severe depression or. initial presentation of subthreshold depressive symptoms that have been present for a long period (typically at least 2 years) or. subthreshold depressive symptoms or mild depression that persist(s) after other interventions.
What happens if ECT doesn't work?
If electroconvulsive therapy doesn't work, the next step could be deep brain stimulation (DBS) — a depression treatment that is currently considered experimental.
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.
Does ECT work for anxiety?
Electroconvulsive therapy is effective in the acute treatment of major depressive disorder patients associated with anxiety symptoms. Anxiety symptoms improved less than depression symptoms during acute electroconvulsive therapy.
Is ECT worth the risk?
ECT can work much more quickly than antidepressants and is useful when patients are at immediate risk for self-injury or suicide. ECT may also be prescribed when antidepressant medications have not worked.
Who is a good candidate for ECT?
People who have had ECT before and responded well are good candidates for ECT. Other first-line indications for the procedure include people who are catatonic or suffering from a form of depression known as psychotic depression (depression associated with delusions and hallucinations).
How long does it take for ECT to work?
Many people begin to notice an improvement in their symptoms after about six treatments with electroconvulsive therapy. Full improvement may take longer, though ECT may not work for everyone. Response to antidepressant medications, in comparison, can take several weeks or more.
Does ECT work immediately?
In reality, it is a painless medical procedure performed under general anesthesia that is considered one of the most effective treatments for severe depression. It can be lifesaving. ECT works quickly, which is why it's often the treatment of choice for people with highly severe, psychotic, or suicidal depression.
Does your memory come back after ECT?
The most persistent adverse effect is retrograde amnesia. Shortly after ECT, most patients have gaps in their memory for events that occurred close in time to the course of ECT, but the amnesia may extend back several months or years. Retrograde amnesia usually improves during the first few months after ECT.
Why is ECT a last resort?
“The seizure is induced in a very controlled fashion, using a fairly precise delivery of an electric current.” Dr Davey says ECT is seen as a treatment option of last resort, to be used when nothing else has worked, or when there isn't time to find the right medication for a patient, a process that can take months.
What medications should not be given before ECT?
Medication Information: Benzodiazepines, Depakote, Lamictal, Neurontin, Trileptal – Do not take the night time dose or morning dose before your treatment. Lithium – Do not take for 24 hours before each treatment. Glucophage/Metformin – Do not take for 12 hours before each treatment.
Is ECT cruel?
As a result, many laypeople regard ECT as a hazardous, even barbaric, procedure. Yet most data suggest that when properly administered, ECT is a relatively safe and often beneficial last-resort treatment for severe depression, among other forms of mental illness.
