Electric Shock Treatment

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Angelfishlea

Edited on 21/05/2016 at 19:55

Good advisor

Hello everyone, am new to this & a bit nervous, so forgive me if I don't always make sense! I had a 10 month stay over 2012/2013 in my local Mental Health Unit and ended up having 27 sessions of Electric Shock Treatment. I was wondering if there is anyone else out there who has had it too and is having memory problems. I had to take one of our dogs to the Vets last month and in the middle of a conversation forgot what I was going to say next and it just wouldn't come back, in the end the Vet said not to worry about it. I don't know if it is part of the reason I don't go out (the Vets was the only place I have been this year, apart from walking the dogs). It's ok when I do it at home, my partner's lovely and we just make a joke of it and there are two pluses, I can read a book as many times as I like because I don't remember them and ditto with films!

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Angelfishlea

20/05/2016 at 00:59

Good advisor

Sorry, Hospital stay was for severe depression

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Lea

Electric Shock Treatment https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/depression/living-with-behavioural-disorders-mental-illne/electric-shock-treatment-1056 2016-05-20 00:59:18

SteveW

20/05/2016 at 18:26

Good advisor

I wouldn't touch ECT but I have known a good few who have. Immediately post ECT, confusion and memory problems are almost universal. Luckily for most this clears in the very short term. But psychiatry acknowledges that a proportion of people develop long term or permanent memory problems. There are any number of estimates as to the percentage of people this happens to. I have seen estimates ranging from well below 10% to 30% and above.

One thing seems pretty certain, the more treatments you have the more likely you are to develop memory problems. In my world 27 treatments is a lot, well to be honest it is a hell of a lot. It wouldn't be surprising if it triggered significant memory problems. Sometimes things improve in the long term, sometimes they don't. There is no way of knowing in advance. I hope you are one of the lucky ones.

Steve

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In the darkest night the sun may seem like an extinguished match or an ember drowned by rain.

Electric Shock Treatment https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/depression/living-with-behavioural-disorders-mental-illne/electric-shock-treatment-1056 2016-05-20 18:26:17

Unregistered member

20/05/2016 at 20:38

Hi thanks for sharing your experiences everyone, just saying its great everyones talking about their own experiences :)

Electric Shock Treatment https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/depression/living-with-behavioural-disorders-mental-illne/electric-shock-treatment-1056 2016-05-20 20:38:20

Angelfishlea

21/05/2016 at 15:51

Good advisor

Thanks so much Steve, ECT was my last chance.

I had been in Hospital for a few months, still crying every time I had to interact and apparently verging on catatonic the rest of the time, had tried quite a lot of combinations of different drugs. For me, it was either ECT, or take an overdose of salt (always fatal in the right dose and you cannot be saved once you've ingested it, as it mortally damages your major organs). By 12 treatments - it hadn't worked so the Doctor in ECT said that they would 'crank it up' a bit. It did end up working, luckily for me. I've never met anyone else who has had a lot of ECT but my memory since the ECT (2012) has, if anything got slightly worse.

My Psychologist and Psychiatrist (who I have been seeing since my discharge in June 2013) both say that I was very seriously ill and can't comment about my memory problems as they don't know of anyone else who has had so much ECT. I'm not blaming anyone, far from it, as I believe it saved my life. Was just hoping to be in touch with someone else who had had a lot of ECT.

Am going to open a new discussion about coming off drugs to see what advice/experience there is as I would like to reduce mine.

Thanks again Steve.

Thanks Haze24

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Lea

Electric Shock Treatment https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/depression/living-with-behavioural-disorders-mental-illne/electric-shock-treatment-1056 2016-05-21 15:51:36

Unregistered member

21/05/2016 at 19:55

No problem :)

Electric Shock Treatment https://www.carenity.co.uk/forum/depression/living-with-behavioural-disorders-mental-illne/electric-shock-treatment-1056 2016-05-21 19:55:53