Posted by justjustine on February 4, 2004, at 22:50:51
In reply to Re: Effexor Withdrawls, posted by Althea8869 on February 4, 2004, at 21:48:47
i am interested to hear from anyone who has tried ECT and how it worked for them.
thanks!
> ECT refers to electro convulsive therapy. Basically the patient is given a strong muscle relaxant as well as a sedative and has electrodes attached to his brain. The current is ran through the electrodes, through the brain inducing a seizure - which is monitored on a chart. Usually last for 45 to 60 seconds. The patient never knows what is happening because he is 'under' and he wakes up shortly after the seizure ends. The bad news is that it can affect short term memory, the good news is that its success rate, after just one session, in treating depression is nothing short of extraordinary. For obvious reasons there is a nasty stigma associated with it, in no small part because in the early days of this therapy, there were not strong muscle relaxants necessary to control the patients seizure. It was not unusual for a patient to reawaken with a broken wrist, strained neck or more serious injuries. With todays muscle relaxnts, this is no longer an issue and with our ability to monitor the brain during the process, it is much safer. It should be said that, like other methods, exactly why it works is not well understood. Some believe that is results in a complete rebalancing of the brains neurotransmitters. Who knows, who cares, the fact is that it is still, by far, the most successful method of treating serious mental disorders.
poster:justjustine
thread:1016
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040204/msgs/309582.html