Ect - Electro-shock Convulsive Therapy

[g6khk0]

I am not a sufferer but was just watching the Dr Oz show and today's subject is about all the success (80% success rate) they are having nowadays with ECT (electroshock convulsive therapy) when dealing with depression and bipolar disease.

This is not like 50 years ago and is a very innovative treatment with apparently no side effects from the treatment when compared to medicinal treatment. My question is has anyone ever heard of this treatment being used with sufferers of PTSD?

Dr Oz is very respected and the doctors are patients are saying how miraculous this new treatment is. They are also saying that as far as they know, insurance companies in the USA covers this treatment.

How wonderful this treatment would be if it could be applied to sufferers of PTSD.

Any thoughts or info on this? I have an ex girlfriend who suffers from PTSD and is in the middle of a flareup right now. To see how she suffers and closes herself off is heartbreaking. I'd love to be able to suggest another avenue of treatment to her.

 

[EloiseLandau]

Personally, I don't like Dr. Oz. He went from being a perfectly good cardiac surgeon to the host of a talk show things to sell and people to scare ("This MIGHT give you BREAST CANCER!"). He displays a blatant lack of critical thinking.
If my opinion bothers you, I do apologize. I can only say I didn't just jump to a conclusion that I don't like him; as someone training in the sciences, I find some of the material he presents fails on an academic level.

But to answer your ECT question:
First of all, when I did interviews with docs about ECT a year ago, they all say there are potential side effects.
Secondly, not a single one treats PTSD.
Thirdly, they will only treat depressed and bipolar people when they have tried pretty much every other treatment under the sun to manage their symptoms.

But to reiterate, that is only what I found personally, after finding docs in New York City and Boston, Massachusetts to correspond with.

 

[g6khk0]

Thank you for your reply EL. Your opinion doesn't bother me, I appreciate any and all input. I'm illiterate when it comes to PTSD and other illnesses of the mind and brain but am trying to learn. This forum has taught me so much more than I knew just a month ago and wish I'd found it months earlier.

I've read some on the amygdala part of the brain and know how it controls to a great extent the fear factor and whether a person fights or flights when confronted with a fear. I know that in the case of my ex-girlfriend her thought process won't allow her to fight because of her PTSD.

We can put a man on the moon yet we can't do so many things to make people healthy. Or..., maybe we could if we'd take all those billions spent on space exploration and invest it in the human race.

 

[simplekindofgirl]

Or the just the billions that are spent to exterminate them. (I am still a U.S. citizen, so I can get on that wagon!)

Maybe you could send your ex girlfriend to this site, so that she can look for treatment options as well as be connected to information, and people that are going through it too.

 

[Tinyflame]

I don't mind Dr Oz, but if your ex wants to do it on her own (to try), I doubt a thought of 'shock treatment' would be too appreciated- I sure wouldn't want it!

The support and 'learning' to be found here, on the other hand, is of immeasurable help and worth.

Also, she is likely to research what she wants (as an adult).

 

[g6khk0]

I've sent her Anthony's document and the link to this site. I don't know if she took advantage of it or not. My guess is she didn't simply because in her mind she has accepted the fact that she has PTSD and thinks that because of her last 10 years of suffering that her fate in life is to only have a life half full and with no happiness in it.

When things were starting to move forward with us she at first said she needed a break about 3 weeks ago. About a week ago she said that we can't go back because things went to fast for her and that things are over between us. She said not to call or text, which I haven't and won't. This was all communicated in emails. I do wonder since she said not to text or call her but didn't mention not emailing her if she was leaving the door open to emails? I haven't sent emails either as I know that she is triggered and shut down and don't want to complicate things for her.

I am of course still hopeful that we will have a relationship but am not thinking it will happen. Even though we may never spend another moment together doesn't mean that I stop caring and will always want what's best for her. I am 54 and know that love means doing what's best for the one you're in love with, even if it hurts.

Since I have been introduced to the destructive nature of this terrible illness called PTSD and am a nurturer and giver by nature, I want to know as much about it for my own benefit and maybe to help others. I know that this forum has opened my mind up to having more tolerance towards those with any type of illness, especially ones dealing with the mind and brain.

I agree that the leading nations of this world needs to get their priorities in order and start worrying about preserving the human race instead of destroying it.

I was just hoping that maybe ECT would be another option for sufferers to take.

This community really is one that is so caring and helpful to all.

 

[Tinyflame]

Dear g6khko, I agree with you.
And maybe ECT is an option.

She may very well feel that way (about her life and ptsd). You know her best, and whether she would respond to such encouragement.

It can be healing also, for a sufferer to work through those thoughts and feelings (of hopelessness etc) too, because we have to be the ones to decide to 'try' and 'what' to try we are ready for and we can live with.

To be able to even say 'no', is very healing, because we usually don't have much of a voice, (or have had) no control over much of what's happened 'to' us.

My greatest 'healing', or 'strength' has come from acceptance that I am 'ok-enough' for others ('unfixed', and 'unhealed', as it were).

 

[cat]

Since being diagnosed myself I think my father may have had ptsd too. He suffered from anxiety & depression all his adult life & had several breakdowns, during which he was given ECT, but it made little difference. As I've come to understand we just have to get through the bad times as best we can using all the strategies we have. To my knowledge my father was never given any psychotherapy or strategies so when he went through stressful times he had no way to overcome them, and all drs seemed to do was up his meds & give him ECT.

To be honest i dont think ECT helped my dad at all. The greatest improvements came when he was admitted to hospital & was under the care of a new psychiatrist who dad had therapy with several times a week & was also prescribed one of the then 'new' SSRi drugs. What a difference in him, after 35 yrs of suffering he became fun loving & affectionate & was no longer angry all the time.