Posted by Larry Hoover on September 8, 2004, at 9:19:44
In reply to Re: cranial impact therapy for major depression, posted by SLS on September 8, 2004, at 8:35:45
> > The risk of permanent brain injury is not clearly settled, and I actually had a "do not ECT" contract with my pdoc. If I was ever so bad that I could not guide my own care, this contract would come into force, and subsitute decision-makers would be legally bound to not use ECT.
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> > Anyway....
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> I wish I had never had ECT. Of course, that's 20/20 hindsight. If it had worked, I would feel differently, but it didn't. I still wonder how much damage it might have produced. I wonder if it has impaired my memory and ability to learn new things. I know that most of it is the depression itself, but I hate to think that I am that much worse off because of the ECT. I had 6 unilateral left followed by 8 bilateral treatments.We're none of us clean slates. Many different factors, some coming and going, and some remaining with us for life. I hope you don't spend too much energy regretting the immutable past.
> I just read a horror story about a musician who had to learn to read music all over again after ECT. I have encountered too many of these stories described by intelligent and seemingly level-headed people not to pay attention to them. Damn.
Exactly where I stood on the matter. My intellect, such as it is, is a core element of my identity. Remaining aware that I am me, without simultaneously having that, would be the end of my existence.
That said, positing cognitive deficits from ECT is only valid when there is evidence of them. This musician's case is anecdote, and does not generalize to all recipients of ECT.
> The irony is that people who have experienced multiple drug failures are less likely to respond to ECT than those who have not. So the question remains: who exactly is the ideal candidate?That's hard to say, isn't it? The foremost proponent of the therapy itself (in the United States) is also significantly tied to the largest manufacturer of ECT devices. ECT is not approved as a treatment. It simply isn't banned as a treatment. Its use predates regulatory legislation.
> I guess it is for the most urgent of emergencies, without regard to prior treatment history. However, if one has tried over 50 drug combinations to treat a depression severe enough to prevent them from functioning and caring for themselves, it is difficult to avoid thinking of ECT as an alternative.
Oh, absolutely. My personal concern was with my intellectual identity. So, that required that a decision took into account that self-awareness.
> That's pretty much where I was at when I was convinced by my doctor to give it a try.
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> - ScottYou're still on the good side of the green (grass), so there's always hope.
Lar
poster:Larry Hoover
thread:387625
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040904/msgs/387975.html