Electroconvulsive Therapy Essay

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Electroshock therapy which is now known as Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) was first used in the 1930’s by the 1950s there were major concerns regarding side effects of ECT coupled by the introduction of different drug therapies lead to decreased popularity in ECT. ECT has been used to treat patients with severe mental illnesses such as severe depression, acute mania, certain schizophrenic syndromes and suicidal patients(Allan & Ebmeier, 2011) (Fatemi & Clayton 2008). ECT is now usually reserved for patients who have severe and recurrent forms of depression usually after all other forms of treatment have failed(Blease, 2013) Electroconvulsive therapy is usually done in a hospital setting, typically with a psychiatrist or trained professional. Before the procedure is administered patients are given a barbiturate to induce sleep, a muscle relaxant and an anticholinergic to prevent aspiration(Keltner & Boschini, 2009). Electroconvulsive therapy consist of brief application of electric stimulus to the scalp.The two methods used in ECT are Bitemporal electrode placement and right unilateral treatment(Fatemi & Clayton 2008). The difference between these two techniques include the area of the brain that is being stimulated, how long it takes to respond and potential side effects. Patients receiving …show more content…

ECT is only effective while being administered. Secondly it suggest that ECT is not effective as a long-term treatment and that rate of relapse is not significantly different from discontinuing antidepressant medication. Lastly the adequacy of placebo controls in the testing of ECT, this has caused some to believe the difference between administrating ECT and sham ECT are satisfactory (Spellman et al., 2008) (Blease,

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