- Hi, my name is Lauren and in this video,
I'm gonna be talking a little bit more
about what exactly ECT or electroconvulsive therapy is
as well as what my experiences with it were like.
So electroconvulsive therapy used to be referred to
as electroshock therapy
or it was commonly referred to as shock treatment.
So basically, electroconvulsive therapy is a treatment
done under general anesthesia
in which they place small electrodes on your temples
in order to pass small electric current through your brain
in order to induce a small seizure.
ECT seems to cause changes in the brain chemistry
that can seem to reverse the effects of mental illnesses
or mental health problems.
So ECT has been refined
since the days of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
and it doesn't really look like that anymore.
However, they still don't really know exactly
how it works and what the effects are on the brain.
They just know that it's sometimes effective
in treating mental health problems.
So I'm just gonna walk you through
what the experience was like for me
and to give you a little bit more insight
into what exactly ECT entails.
So as I mentioned before,
ECT is commonly used with treatment resistant depression.
So it's not usually used as a first line of defense
in treating a mental health problem.
So for me,
I had tried a bunch of different medications already
for my depression and I had tried therapy as well
and nothing really seemed to be working.
So my doctor suggested
that we try electroconvulsive therapy.
So I think the first thing that people don't really know
about it is it's not just a one-time treatment.
So for me, I went and had it done 12 times
so three times a week for four weeks.
So I was pretty scared initially
not really knowing what exactly it was going to entail
and what exactly ECT was or what it was gonna feel like
or what it was going to do in terms of side effects to me
but I went
and so it usually happened first thing in the morning
and there was always a group of us.
So there was a mix of some inpatients and some outpatients.
I was being treated as an outpatient when I received it.
So there was a group of us
that went in to get it done at the same time basically.
So outwardly, I was showing that I was calm
and I guess composed about the whole situation
which is why they usually put me near the end of the group
which was a little bit problematic
because then I could hear and see some of the other people
getting the treatment done
which was a little bit traumatic to say the least.
So basically what would happen
would be that they would set you up with an IV
and then they would attach an electrode to your temple
either on one side or on both sides
depending on which kind of ECT you were receiving.
I only had it on the one side but then they would,
so they would hook that up and then going through the line,
they would wheel you over to the station
where they do the ECT
and they would inject you with a muscle relaxant
in order to relax your muscles
so that you didn't break any bones
or so that you weren't really sore the next day
after having the seizure
and then they would put you under with general anesthetic.
So they would kind of explain that process to you
and then they would count backwards from 10
as they put the general anesthetic into you
and you would lose consciousness
but because I was near the end of the line,
I was still conscious
while others were getting their ECT done
so I could hear the seizures
and I could kind of see what was going on
with the doctors and whatnot.
So that was a little bit traumatic
but it helped to kind of understand the process
a little bit better as well.
So when it was my turn the first time, it was really scary
because there was doctors and nurses standing over me
and I had an electrode attached to my temple
and I knew that I was gonna be shocked
in order to induce a seizure.
So the actual treatment was done while I was put under
and so while I was unconscious,
they administered the small electric currents
into my temple to pass through my brain
and that's when I had the induced seizure
which is what they believe helps
to alleviate some mental health symptoms.
So the seizure, the aim of the seizure
is to be around anywhere between 30 to 60 seconds.
From what I saw and what they told me,
it was anywhere between really 20 to 60 seconds.
So just to reiterate,
you are unconscious during this process
and you don't feel any of the electricity
passing through you or the seizure or anything like that
and you don't remember it either when you wake up
but basically when I woke up, I was a little disoriented
because of being put out and shocked
but I was able to remember where I was
and what had happened and whatnot
with a little help from the nurses
and a little prompting from the nurses.
I had a headache and I was sore already
but other than that, it went, it went okay I think.
So it took about an hour to come out of the anesthetic
and I wasn't allowed to drive myself home obviously
for obvious reasons.
As the day progressed after I got my first treatment,
the headache got a bit worse
and I got quite a bit more sore as well
just from the effects of being tense during the seizure.
I told the nurses this the next time
and they gave me a little bit more of the muscle relaxant
which did help
and I just took some Ibuprofen for the headache.
So recovery time after the procedure,
they recommended taking the whole day off
but I oftentimes would just shower
to get the gel out of my hair from the electrodes
and go to school.
I probably wouldn't recommend doing this.
I'd probably recommend taking a day
to just kind of relax and recuperate
but I think it affects everybody a little bit differently.
So a lot of people say
that it's kind of a gradual lifting of the fog for them
when they receive ECT and it's effective.
So this is why I kept going back for more treatments
even though it didn't really seem to be helping me
at the time.
Unfortunately, after the whole course of the ECT treatments,
I didn't really feel any effects
and I was really left with memory deficits as well.
So it really affected my short-term memory and to this day,
I still have some problems with short-term memory.
So because it wasn't effective for me,
some people have asked me if I regret getting it
and the simple answer to that is no, I don't
because I was in such a point with my depression at the time
and early signs of schizophrenia
that I was so desperate for reprieve
or desperate for any form of effective treatment
that I was willing to really try anything.
So, no, I don't regret doing it.
I wish it had worked but it didn't.
It is a treatment that works for a lot of people
and there are quite a few studies coming out lately
that indicate the effectiveness of the treatment.
So if you are watching this and thinking about getting ECT
or your doctor has mentioned it to you as a possibility,
I just want you to know
that it's not as bad as people commonly think it is
and it is effective for some people.
So I hope this video helps to provide
a little bit more insight about the process of ECT
and what exactly it's like getting it.
So I mentioned ECT in the video about my story
and I mentioned it in the presentations that I give as well
and people are often surprised
to find out that ECT isn't just one treatment
and they're just surprised to learn more
about the process in general.
So I hope this kind of helped to demystify some of it.
If you found this video helpful, please give me a thumbs up
and if you'd like to see more videos
in the future like this, make sure to subscribe.
Thanks so much for watching and have a great day.
Bye.