Www Clinical Depression Co Uk, ECT And Severe Clinical Depression
Q: It is my understanding that the only approved (by the US FDA) use for
electro-shock therapy is in the treatment of severe clinical
depression. Anyone have the scoop? People with severe clinical
depression spend their entire day curled up in a ball on the floor. I
don't see how Scientology[tm] is supposed to help with that.
Actually, the mechanism makes sense. Scientists have recently begun to
make the connections between brain chemistry, brain activity and
behavior, at least in the case of compulsive behavior. Apparently some
feedback mechanisms in the brain run amok leading to the compulsion.
The patients who were cured, either through drugs, therapy, or both (the
combination was most effective) displayed a change in their brain
activity.
A:I suppose that shock therapy might conceivably work by interrupting
whatever feedback loop is locking its victims into depression. Still
seems a lot like hitting someone over the head with a hammer, though.
The only other medical uses for shocks that I know of is in training
infants and mentally disabled children. Some infants spontaneously
regurgitate all their food, and they will die if they are not broken of
this habit quickly. Some mentally disabled children want to beat their
own heads and faces in to the point of crippling themselves. As they
are incapable of reason, painful shocks are used to break them of the
habit.
ECT is used solely to treat "refractory depression": depression which
is nonresponsive to other therapies. People with refractory
depression are constant threats to their own safety and are often
unsuitable for psychotherapy because of the acute effects of
depression. Since SSRIs generally take 7 to 21 days to begin to take
effect, and some severe types of depression do not respond, or do not
respond adequately, to SSRIs, another approach is required in
extremely severe cases. ECT is used solely to break the grip of
refractory depression long enough for an SSRI or other antidepressive
to take effect and/or to permit the onset of effective psychotherapy.
It is not a long-term or permanent solution. The main advantages of
ECT are that it works when nothing else does, and its effect is
immediate. The major disadvantage is interference with short-term
memory. ECT is rarely used outside of an institutional setting, since
its use is generally restricted to people who present an immediate
threat