Electro convulsive therapy is a treatment for severe depression. It is used when the situation is so bad that there is a concern for suicide or serious behavior problems. During this treatment the brain is zapped with a strong electrical current. This causes a seizure like someone with epilepsy would have. Supposedly this seizure releases different chemicals in the brain and make the brain cells work better. The person's mood will improve when the chemicals take the right messages to part of the body. Typically the person is given around 12 treatments.

Some people swear that ECT really is helpful for anyone suffering from very severe depression or uncontrolled manic behavior. Others will tell you that it is one of the worse methods used to treat depression and is very destructive. Two very important side effects are confusion and long lasting memory loss. People have said that after these treatments they never felt they were as mentally sharp after as they were prior to the ECT.

Here is a typical description of someone who is given ECT treatments.

Sally is a middle aged woman who has gone through a very bad divorce. Her ex husband threw up everything that ever happened in their relationship as her fault. She realizes that the only people who are benefiting from this court action are the lawyers. She feels her lawyer was less competent that the one her husband had. The result came out much more favorable to her husband. She is extremely depressed, locks herself in her home, and cannot go to her work. She knows she will be fired soon. She is thinking of ways to kill herself and tries to cut her wrists but the cuts are not deep enough. She ends up at a hospital emergency room. From there she is transferred to the psychiatric ward. Her sister has a conference with the doctor and agrees Sally should have ECT. Her sister is amazed that when she goes to visit Sally she cannot remember the names of her children. She has even walked out into the hall naked. Her sister is worried that she made the wrong call. As it happens, several days after the ECT Sally starts to smile and talk with her sister about how well things are going. She doesn't remember why she had the problem in the first place. Sally's sister wonders if her sister's memory is going to be permanently affected.

The Pros Of ECT are:

-Quick relief of your symptoms, especially if you are suicidal

-It an work when anti depressants aren't doing the job

-There's some physical reason you can't take anti depressants

-You had previous depression and it keeps coming back

The Cons of ECT are:

-After receiving these treatments you can become confused while having the treatments

-You can have memory loss which can last many years. It could be permanent.

-It involves anesthesia and has potential for medical complications

-You may have headache, jaw pain, and muscle aches after treatments

Only you can decide if having shock treatments is the right thing for you to do. I view it only as an emergency treatment for people who are at risk of killing themselves or others. You may want to ask the doctor who is offering these shock treatments if he would have them himself or give them to members of his family. Unless the situation is critical, the use of anti depressants and anti anxiety medication can go a long way towards minimizing symptoms.