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.
Does ECT treatment 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.
Can ECT cause long term damage?
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.
Can ECT be harmful?
Medical complications. As with any type of medical procedure, especially one that involves anesthesia, there are risks of medical complications. During ECT, heart rate and blood pressure increase, and in rare cases, that can lead to serious heart problems. If you have heart problems, ECT may be more risky.
What are some of the negative side effects of ECT?
What are the risks and side-effects of ECT?
- loss of memory about the events immediately before and after ECT.
- heart rhythm disturbances.
- low blood pressure.
- headaches.
- nausea.
- sore muscles, aching jaw.
- confusion.
Does 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.
Who is ECT Not recommended for?
For example, children under age eleven cannot undergo ECT for mental health disorders. People with heart conditions and people who cannot handle short-acting sedatives or muscle relaxers should not undergo ECT treatments.
Does 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.
Why is ECT controversial?
Reasons for Controversy
Three reasons are given for the aversion: 1) ECT is considered old-fashioned and politically incorrect; 2) it is forced on the patient; and 3) the memory disturbances are so severe and persistent that no rational human being would undergo this procedure, no matter how well-intended.
How many rounds of ECT is normal?
Typically, ECT (whether inpatient or outpatient) is given two to three times a week for a total of six to twelve sessions. Some patients may need more or fewer treatments. These sessions improve depression in 70 to 90 percent of patients, a response rate much higher than that of antidepressant drugs.
Does ECT lower IQ?
However, former patients have publicly testified that ECT can result in a very significant (>30 point) permanent decrement in IQ score (Food and Drug Administration, 1982; Andre, 2001; Cott, 2005: p.
Can electric shock therapy cause dementia?
Conclusion: This study supports that ECT was not associated with the increased risk of dementia in patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depressive disorder, using the NHIRD.
Why is ECT unethical?
ECT is not safe: it produces varying amounts of memory loss and other adverse effects on cognition in nearly everyone who receives it, typically lasting weeks or months after the last treatment (as well as many other adverse consequences, from ocular effects to postictal psychosis).
Can you have ECT against your will?
2 health professionals have to agree that you should have ECT if you lack mental capacity to consent to treatment whilst under the Mental Health Act. You can make an advance decision to refuse ECT in the future. An advanced decision is legally binding. It has to be followed, unless it is an emergency.
When did shock therapy end?
The use of ECT declined until the 1980s, "when use began to increase amid growing awareness of its benefits and cost-effectiveness for treating severe depression".
What part of the brain does ECT target?
"During the treatment course, ECT leads to plastic changes in the brain that are linked with improvements in mood. Specifically, we saw the hippocampus and amygdala -- important for memory and emotion -- are shown to increase in size.
What happens when ECT doesn't work?
If nothing else has helped, including ECT, and you are still severely depressed, you may be offered neurosurgery for mental disorder (NMD), deep brain stimulation (DBS) or vagus nerve stimulation (VNS).
When should ECT not be used?
The following strategies should not be used routinely: augmentation of an antidepressant with a benzodiazepine for more than 2 weeks as there is a risk of dependence. augmentation of an antidepressant with buspirone*, carbamazepine*, lamotrigine* or valproate* as there is insufficient evidence for their use.
Does ECT worsen 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 cause brain tumors?
The most common type of tumor was a meningioma, which was present in 16 patients (40%), with arachnoid cysts coming in second place with 11 patients (27.5%). Six patients (15% of the sample) manifested AEs after ECT.
Can ECT affect eyesight?
Conclusion: Transient cortical blindness is probably a very rare adverse effect of ECT. The findings are discussed in the context of visual impairment associated with epileptic seizures.
Does ECT cause confusion?
Confusion usually begins immediately after ECT and typically lasts for an hour or two; resolving spontaneously [12]. Acute confusional state lasting less than one hour is a frequently encountered complaint reported in almost 12% post-ECT patients [13, 14].
Is ECT brutal?
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.
What are the long term effects of electric shock treatment?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been controversially associated with long-lasting memory problems. Verbal learning and memory deficits are commonly reported in studies of people with bipolar disorder (BD).
Does ECT cause seizures?
Conclusions. Electroconvulsive therapy has not been found to cause epilepsy. Patient's underlying organic condition may influence development of seizures.
