Treating treatment-resistant depression with ECT
Treating depression can feel like an endless climb uphill, making it difficult to see the importance of continuing to pursue treatment at all. Those who suffer from depression often describe themselves as feeling numb, disconnected, overwhelmed by medication therapies that don’t seem to be making a difference, exhausted or simply hopeless.
Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, offers new hope for those struggling with treatment-resistant depression.
In this video, real patients spoke about their experience with medication-resistant depression and how ECT (electroconvulsive therapy) changed their lives. The ECT Medical Director with Prisma Health, Dr. Adam Hart, explained how ECT works and how it is utilized by medical professionals.
Dr. Hart and the patients offered answers on:
- How ECT can help improve even severe depression
- If patients are sedated during ECT treatments
- How carefully targeted electrical currents create improvements
- The process of preparation leading up to the treatment
- How patients feel after going through ECT treatment
For those who have tried other methods to treat their depression without success, ECT may improve quality of life and offer the chance to begin again.