I get regular maintenance ECT treatments for my depression, and have been for quite some time. I tend to cope with my pre-treatment anxiety with humor, so one time I brought a Pikachu sticker to see if they’d let me out it somewhere on the ECT cart.
P.S. If anyone’s curious about a patient perspective on ECT I’m open to questions.
Electro Convulsive Therapy - they literally shock your brain at high voltages for 10-15 minutes a few times per session.
In my opinion, its extremely under-studied and over prescribed. It should be a completely last ditch attempt extreme cases of treatment resistant depression.
I disagree with the claim that they use high voltage or shock you for 10-15 minutes. Most patients’ seizures don’t even last for a full 60 seconds, let alone the less-than-a-second stimulus shock to induce the brief seizure.
However, I do agree that ECT has a long history of being over-prescribed and definitely requires more research. Especially on long-term side effects.