Patients Describe Their ECT Experience 4 Years Later

Patients who report continuing adverse effects after ECT might suffer from persistent depression.

Although ECT remains the most effective and best tolerated somatic therapy in psychiatry, some people continue to view it as dangerous and disruptive. In this British study using a detailed questionnaire, 148 of 356 consecutive patients who had undergone twice-weekly ECT retrospectively assessed the procedure (median number of sessions, 8; median years elapsed since ECT, 4).

Seventy-five respondents (51%) thought it was certain or possible that they were still experiencing adverse effects of ECT, and 46 responded to a question allowing them to name these. Twenty different adverse effects were mentioned. The authors did not list these, but characterized them as depressive symptoms or as unrelated to ECT (e.g., medication side effects and othe…

Reviewing Author

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Steven Dubovsky, MD

Disclosures

Grant/Research SupportTower Foundation; Patrick Lee Foundation; Boehringer Ingelheim; Intra-Cellular Therapies; Janssen; Biogen; Allergan

Editorial BoardsMind and Brain; Bulletin of the Menninger Clinic; Current Psychiatry; Journal of Psychosomatic Research

Patients Describe Their ECT Experience 4 Years Later

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Reviewing Author