Posted by linkadge on December 12, 2006, at 20:03:27
In reply to Re: ECT experience » linkadge, posted by dessbee on December 12, 2006, at 7:11:42
>They have done studies on patients using ECT >long term without finding brain damage.
Thats not true. It really depends where you look, and who you ask. There is plenty of information on the internet regarding the capacity of ECT to dammage the brain.
If ECT did not have the capacity to dammage the brain, then why would you see scientific abstracts regarding the use of NMDA antagonists like memantine to prevent the indicdence of ECT induced glutamatergic neurotoxicity ????
>Statistics show that 80% are helped with ECT.
>So even if ECT is not all good, it still helps >many patients, who can not find any other way >out of their depression.Again, that depends who you ask. Statistics can lie, and they can be misleading. A number of patients who have ECT are not in a position to give an accurate discription of how the treatment affected them, as they have sustained memory loss.
This leaves the task of rating improvement from ECT to doctors. My doctor thinks I am doing better on antidepressants. Thats becase when I walk in the door he tells me I am doing better, he doesn't ask.
Some statistics say that only 10% of people have sexual dysfunction on SSRI's, where the true indidence is more like >50%.
Go to a site like www.remidyfind.com. You will not see an 80% sucess rate for ECT. This says something, as you would not expect severly depressed patients to take the time and rate it.
Even from the accounts I have heard here, I couldn't say more than half of the people who had it say it helped them.
Even if %80 of patients did get better on it, the relapse rate is extrordinarily high. Higher than for any other treatment.
So, when you lapse, you've got to deal with the prospect of living with a damaged brain, which would undoubtedly make the situation worse.
There is *not* an overwhealming conscensious in teh medical comunity that ECT is safe. Like I said, my psychiatrist refuses to administer it as he doesn't think it is safe, and he's a university doctor.
Linkadge
poster:linkadge
thread:711494
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20061212/msgs/713006.html