I found this article interesting. It’s about a guy who seems very functional and doing well in life, but apparently he found depression to be problem. He tried antidepressants but they didn’t help him. So he eventually resorted to ECT, electroconvulsive therapy. It’s where an electrical current is passed through the brain. Apparently this guy found it helpful and it has improved his life. He’s written a book about his ECT experiences and his subsequent improvements.

I guess I found it interesting because I’ve been on various psychiatric medications, and I’ve never liked them, but for a long time I’ve thought “it could be worse, I could have ended up having ECT”, since I see ECT as something to be feared, I suppose. I think doctors don’t really know how it works, but some patients do report improvements after having it.

Maybe it would be good to see more articles like this one in mainstream media outlets (this article is from The Guardian which is a mainstream newspaper in the UK). There’s clearly still a gigantic stigma around mental health, but articles like this, where mental health patients talk about their experiences, probably help to break down the stigma.