i got brain damage from electroconvulsive therapy.

I got ECT in 2014. I have experienced similar problems that you described. I am no longer able to work.

I have had over 200 act sessions, now there seems to be no lasting benefit from it and feel that I am brain damaged.

Hi Suzie- Thank you for making known the unfortunate, deleterious effects of E.C.T..

I came here initially because I have felt keenly a cognitive degrade immediately following E.C.T. and found reasoned, direct evidence that others have shared the same or similar experience.  

 A (hopefully) simple question: Have youre cognitive a reasoning skills continued to improve?  

Hey. I am sorry to hear that what kind doctor are you

i have been trying some way to prove i was given ECT. i have severe side effects from many perscription drugs. in a nut shell i was hauled off to the  mental hospital because of side effects from a drug EMTS gave me saying it was benedryl. i was talking out of my head. my doctor signed the papers to commit me. as doped up as they kept me at visitation i told my daughters i had been shocked twice. i had bruises under my neck, on my face around my eye, on my arms, fingerprint and palm print buises to both sides of my buttocks and a red mark on my neck under my hair at the hairline. i have many of the same symptoms you describe. i have never before or after had any sign of psychosis. never been committed or taken even an anti-depressant. they kept me drugged and released me on the 7th day. i just hired a lawyer this week. this happened last july. it took me almost a year to feel strong enough mentally to start the legal process. there have been a few times when i got overly tired and  became mute.

Hi. I know this is a three year old discussion, but I'm 17 and had 12 treatments, and haven't felt the same since. This unending...FEELING and everything just seems so wrong. On top of that my brain barely functions, I can't find enjoyment or any emotion at all from anything, and I'm so fatigued 24/7, but it's better in the morning and worse in the evening. Do you think that I might have received brain damage as well?

Sue,

Are u still on this forum? After 17 yrs since ECT, seems my brain & function just continues to go downhill. It was so relieving to find ur discussion thread & I feel a little more hopeful seeing that perhaps that there are others that can confirm that I'm not going crazy. Do u know of any groups or resources in the USA? I'm just beginning my journey of trying to get this diagnosed. Every health care professional I mention my concern & issues with just undermines me & minimalizes it. Makes me think I'm going crazy. What is even more unbelievable is that after I underwent a 5 hour back surgery (being put under), I feel like I've lost so much more brain function & my awareness of "time". I don't know how else to explain it, but I get lost in my time, get so little done bc I'm beyond easily distracted, can't plan worth anything, and struggle to be on time for EVERYTHING. This is the part that is so strange for me to explain to anyone. I've p****d so many people off, had to quit my career as a school counselor & can barely work helping in a local shop. I come across as incompetent, unmotivated & forgetful.  Luckily I have a few friends who see my issues, especially the memory issues and are patient in recalling info for me when I'm completely unaware. Ugh! I really want to try my hand at getting to a neuropsychologist as U mentioned. Just not sure if the health professionals I try to deal with wil look at this & truly try to help me. Any info u can share about ur journey thru diagnosis would be enlightening. Thank u for putting urself out there & sharing ur story. 

I am so glad that I found your post. I had ECT in the mid '90's and it ruined my life. I was a really good teacher. I had to give it up due to memory problems. Sometimes now I try to substitute. I feel like a failure when I do. I was a specialist teaching academically gifted children. Now when I substitute I can barely figure out third grade math. It does not help that now our schools have done away with teacher manuals so I can not even peep to see how a problem is supposed to be solved. I have noticed that over the past few years I am now able to remember a sequence of numbers. I am unable to do simple tasks such as put papers together in order and staple them together. Things that took me only a few minutes now take hours and I discover I have made many errors. I hate feeling dumb and stupid all of the time. I was so smart! Most things I read state that ECT causes no long term memory problems. That is a joke. I went to Disney a World one year and went again the next year. I'd say something about I had never seen something before and my husband would say, "We saw that last year." I had absolutely no memory of it or for that matter, the entire trip. My son was young when I had ECT done. I basically have no memory of his childhood. I think I have learned to fake that rather well. When people say, "Do you remember...." and I assure them I do. I actually have no memory of his childhood.

I hate that I ever agreed to ECT.

I could never encourage anyone to do it.

I recently had 4 ECT treatments for treatment resistant depression. I had memory issues before having the treatments, but everything has gotten so much worse. Reading through some of these responses, I feel like so many people have written what I feel but have been unable to put into words. I feel like I have no mind. I've forgotten so many things. I just don't remember them at all. I'm unorganized. I'm a stay at home mom to 3 kids and feel like I can't do basic things like get them to where they need to be without a lot of planning, multiple alarms, etc. I'm exhausted 24/7 and just feel confused and generally worse than I did before the treatments. I stopped going after the 4th one because I didn't notice any positive effects with my depression, just continued issues with everything else. I fear I've made yet another mistake and this makes me feel even more suicidal.