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i got brain damage from electroconvulsive therapy.

Posted , 86 users are following.

sue_cunliffe1
sue_cunliffe1

In 2005 I was given 22 lots of electroconvulsive therapy. It left me with brain damage that means I will never work again. I was lucky because I got support from a neuropsychologist who allowed me to understand and come to terms with my problems. ECT can be used to great effect. However some people like myself end up severely and permanently affected. I want to use this place to link up with those like myself. So that we can support each other.  I don't say ect shouldn't be used. But people thinking of it should understand what can happen. The Information given about ECT side effects doesn't go into details, they talk about memory problems. Actually it affects far more than that. It causes cognitive impairment. 10 years on I need 12 hours of home help a week to help me care for my 3 kids. I tire very easily and some days I am able and feel intelligent. Other days if I have pushed myself and not been able to have a midday nap I struggle to do the most basic of tasks. Some days I'm not well enough to drive at all. Other days I will drive short distances. I was a doctor and well never work again. 

Please let me know if you have had similar problems. Or if your thinking about ECT please make sure that you understand what could happen to you. It could mean permanent I'll health on top of your existing problems.I am no longer depressed. It wasn't stopped by the ECT but by psychological input to support me out of my coercively abusive marriage.

16 likes, 269 replies

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  • tanya73811
    tanya73811 sue_cunliffe1

    Posted

    Hi suzie whats cognitive impairment. So besides struggling to do things what othet symptoms did it cause
    • sue_cunliffe1
      sue_cunliffe1 tanya73811

      Posted

      If you have had ect or any other brain injury you can get it diagnosed by having tests that asess your ability to perform certain tasks. But those tests must be specific to what caused your brain damage. Head ways is a charity that supports people with brain injury. I battled for 2 years to be seen by a neuropsychologist, not a psychiatrist. They specialise in brain injured patients. Unfortunately the symptoms of brain injury caused by ect are often misinterpreted by the psychiatrists as more psychiatric problems. Have you had ect? I felt mad and humiliated by the time my brain injury was diagnosed. My neuropsychologist literally saved my life. 
    • tanya73811
      tanya73811 sue_cunliffe1

      Posted

      No I haven't been tested. Ive got bad anxiety abd dissocative disorder but I keep thinking maybe ive got brain damage so I want to see a neurologist. 

      Im hoping its just my anxiety. 

    • tanya73811
      tanya73811 sue_cunliffe1

      Posted

      I did hit my head in a car accident last April. 

      I did a ct scan which was normal. But then I started to get bad panic and anxiety and then  in september I just felt really strange had a anxiety attack and haven't felt normal since

    • sue_cunliffe1
      sue_cunliffe1 tanya73811

      Posted

      Closed head injury...so banging your head needn't show changes on a scan. As I discovered doctors...and I was one myself don't understand the subtleties of brain damage. My psychiatrists confused my brain closing off with anxiety and panic attacks. Head ways is a brain injury charity who could help you. Or ask your gp to refer you to a neuropsychologist for an assessment
    • p876
      p876 tanya73811

      Posted

      Hi Tanya,

      That's really interesting. Did you start to feel the dissocative effects straight after the CT scan? I did, it was litteraly that I was fine before I had it and experiencing it straight after.

  • tanya73811
    tanya73811 sue_cunliffe1

    Edited

    Hi suzie how would you know if you have brain damage.

    What are some symptoms

    • sue_cunliffe1
      sue_cunliffe1 tanya73811

      Posted

      The things that I noticed first was my memory. For things that happened a long time ago to seconds before. It was also memory of emotions and music. Navigation problems....I got lost. Then I realised that my concentration was very poor. I could not multi task. I'd forgotten even the most basic of things even my 2 times tables and how to count money out. I find it difficult to function in New or busy environments. What you don't realise is that your brain proceses everything in your environment. What it sees hears and smells. With this type of brain injury you have less brain to process in and out gets easily overloaded. So you could walk into a shop or be in town and your brain closes down, you can't think. People describe it as if a curtain has come down and separated you from the rest of the world. The more tired I am the less I am able to cope with these environments. There is agreat book called head injury a practical guide by a guy called Trevor Powell. It is well worth a read. Not all of it is relevant to ect brain damage but you 'll know if it sounds right for your or not. 
    • morre
      morre sue_cunliffe1

      Posted

      Hello,

      I am reading this and in shock.  I have finished a round of 12 sessions for a total of 21 since March 2017.  I am having much memory problems that is is not only shocking but emotionally draining and my depression is becoming more and more difficult.  I cannot remeber names, going places, people, events.  We even adopted a dog in April, and unfortanly t became ill and we put it down....I have no memory of this beautiful dog.  It breaks my heart more than I can even express...

      My husband is becoming frustrted and has said its like livng wiht an Alzheimers person!  I'm only 45!  two young kids, a career in healthcare and I am now on disability....

      A treatment that was to have helped me with depression has now crippled me mentally.  I am at a loss in life.

      Thank you for sharing.  Let us count our blessings xo

    • Aurebu
      Aurebu morre

      Posted

      I am so sorry to hear of your suffering. ;y Spouse was given ECT against ehr will in 2015. Luckily I managed to stop them after 5 ECT sessions. She is getting better, and a year after her ECT she dumped all the psychiatric drugs, and is now Med free after 12 years of being on "meds" for her "bipolar" diagnose. She is going through a period of depression right now, but is coping quite well in contrast to when she was on the "drugs". A change in life is what usually kills the depression. Getting out, taking long walks, and enjoying nature. Usually it is the rat race of work/school, and a tight economy that causes the depressions. 

      After all it is only you that can change the tide. Only thing other people can do is help and support you. Psychiatry is completely miss lead, and tend to use ECT and drugs where they should be using therapy and other harmless treatments. 

    • michael77727
      michael77727 Aurebu

      Posted

      I'm sitting here with chronic akathisia and serotonin syndrome, and damage from ECT treatments I had over 10 years ago.  It's not fun.  It has been slowly getting better over the years, but it sucks in general.  All the things that were supposed to help me just wrecked me.  I've been on disability for over 15 years now because of it.  Honestly?  I'm convinced that electroshock treats depression by making you forget the things that caused you to be depressed.  The problem with that is if there were important things you needed to remember.  For me, that forgetting, caused me to stay in a bad situation longer than I should have.  Because of my experiences, I don't hold psychiatry in very high regard anymore.  It's extremely dangerous stuff they consistently claim is harmless.

    • sue_cunliffe1
      sue_cunliffe1 morre

      Posted

      Hi sorry I didn't reply.... I've been really busy.

      Sorry that you have ended up like so many of us.. Where are you from?

    • sue_cunliffe1
      sue_cunliffe1 michael77727

      Posted

      Sorry I haven't replied. Life's been really hard.

      Sorry that you have ended up like so many of us.

      Where are you from? I'm in the UK

  • Br0974
    Br0974 sue_cunliffe1

    Posted

    I have been suffering with clinical depression now for well over 9 years and have been on various anti-depressants as well as CBT intense 12 week courses, counselling etc and yet I seem to have got worse whereby I don't seem to know the person I am anymore. I am an angry person who use to be very placid loving and kind and yet I find myself having moments of rage whereby I physically want to hurt myself or want to hurt the person who told me they cared. I never bring my kids into it or when anyone else is around I put on an act but it gets increasingly tiring and just feel such a failure. Do you think ECT could help and if so how do I go about getting it as my dr wouldn't provide this?
    • sue_cunliffe1
      sue_cunliffe1 Br0974

      Posted

      Hi. Sorry you never got a reply.

      Many people get a personality change along with many other problems after ECT.

      Where are you from? I'm in the UK

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