What is ECT treatment?

ECT treatment is a treatment that induces a short-term convulsion using a weak electrical current transmitted through the head. The treatment is almost only used for people with severe depression where medical treatment or conversational therapy has not helped or where a very speedy recovery is necessary because the person’s life is in danger. Mortal danger in this context means that people who have severe depression are in danger of committing suicide or perhaps they have stopped eating or drinking. This is why there is a need for treatment that works as quickly as possible.

Medical treatment typically works only after 3 to 6 weeks, and in worst case, the person can die before then. In addition, medication does not have an effect on everyone. ECT treatment is much more effective. With this, one can notice a clear improvement in the condition already after 2 to 3 treatments within just one week.

The treatment is done under general anaesthesia. An anaesthesiologist and a nurse anaesthetist administer the anaesthesia. The ECT treatment itself takes place in such a way that the staff place some elctro pads on your temples, whereupon a very small electric current is given.

There are two reasons for administering full anaesthesia. First of all, as a patient, you should not feel discomfort from an electric current. Secondly, the anaesthesia suppresses the seizures that are triggered by the electric current. This is done by administering a medicine that briefly paralyses the muscles. The breathing muscles are also paralysed, and therefore the nurse ensures that you breathe, just as is done in normal surgical treatments under general anaesthesia.

The convulsions appear as weak spasms in the arms and legs, but it is not as powerful as a real seizure, such as epilepsy. The ECT treatment is not so much about convulsions in itself, but about affecting mood-controlling nerve cells, and in this way influencing the depressive disorder. It is believed that the reason the treatment works is that the nerve cells in the brain are given a kind of time-out for a few seconds. If the brain’s electrical fluctuations are subsequently measured, one can see that the brain cells become synchronised in their work, so to speak.

When the treatment is over, you wake up in just a few minutes. In most cases, you can notice a clear improvement after 1 to 3 treatments. Normally, 8 to 12 treatments are given spaced over 3 treatments a week to ensure a lasting effect. However, some people need more treatments.

The treatment can affect your short-term memory and learning ability in such a way that you may experience temporary memory problems and learning difficulty for days to weeks after the treatment. However, these problems disappear again for the vast majority. Still, some may experience more permanent defined gaps in their memory. About 20 to 30 percent are completely free of memory problems.

It is important to remember that the illness in itself with a long period of illness can result in you remembering poorly or having forgotten things that took place during the period. Many are afraid of suffering brain damage from ECT treatment. Fortunately, recent research shows that brain cells are not destroyed during the treatment, and many patients experience ECT as the most gentle and effective treatment for their severe depression.