Prior to the procedure: answer any questions you Used in severe depression and

may have. other mental health disorders

Medication will be given The nurse will also check for resistant to other treatments
approximately 30 minutes any side effects that may The procedure is done under
before treatment to dry your occur. anesthesia and only takes about
mouth. 5 minutes
There will be medication Common side effects include
given before the therapy that This is a diagram of the ECT short term confusion and
will help you feel more procedure. memory loss
Many notice improvements after
relaxed and to make sure you
about 6 treatments
dont feel uncomfortable.
Anesthesia medication is Potential Side Effects:
given to help you sleep so
that you are unaware during Confusion may occur following the
procedure, this may last a few
the treatment.
minutes or hours. Confusion may
Before the treatment, you last several days or more but that
will be given a mouth guard is very rare. Confusion is usually
which will help protect your more noticeable in older adults
teeth and tongue.
Memory loss. Some people have
difficulty remembering things that
The procedure: occurred right before and after
The procedure itself only takes treatment, in the weeks and
about 5 minutes. months before treatment and
rarely events in the years prior to
Following the procedure: treatment. This is known as
EEG- electroencephalogram (brain retrograde amnesia. Some also
A nurse will be checking your activity) have difficulty recalling things that
blood pressure, heart rate, ECG- electrocardiogram (heart activity) occurred during the weeks of their
temperature, and breathing EMG- electrocardiogram (muscle activity)
treatment.
rate every 15 minutes
Physical side effects include
following the treatment. Key Points: nausea, headache, jaw pain or
Confusion or short-term muscle soreness. These can usually
A small electric current through
memory loss may occur. A be treated with medications as
the brain to readjust brain
nurse will stay with you to prescribed by a doctor.
chemistry
Potential Complications: Mania HESI.(2014).Comprehensivereviewforthe
NCLEXRNexamination.(4thed.).St.Louis,MO:
There are risks of medical Schizophrenia Elsevier.
complications with any type of Catatonia (an abnormality
medical procedure, especially one Kellner,C.,Greenberg,R.,Murrough,J.,Bryson,E.,
of movement and behavior Briggs,M.,&Pasculli,R.(2012).ECTintreatment
that involves anesthesia like ECT
arising from a disturbed resistantdepression.AmericanJournalofPsychiatry,
does. During ECT, heart rate and
mental state) 169(12),12381244.
blood pressure increase, and can
rarely lead to serious heart Those who are extremely Kellner,C.&Rasmussen,K.(2015).Contemporary
problems. If you have heart suicidal ECTfordepressionpart1:Practiceupdate.
PsychiatricTimes,32(7),5355.
problems, ECT can be riskier.
Electroconvulsive therapy is MayoClinic.(2016).ElectroconvulsiveTherapy
typically not considered as an (ECT).RetrievedNovember5,2016,from
Evidence Based Practice option until multiple http://www.mayoclinic.org/tests
medications and other procedures/electroconvulsive
On average, ECT takes two to three therapies have been tried and therapy/basics/definition/prc20014161
weeks to take effect. By contrast, were unsuccessful. NAMI (2016). ECT, TMS and Other Brain
treatment with medication usually Stimulation Therapies. Retrieved November 5, 2016,
take six to eight weeks for ECT treatments are generally given from https://www.nami.org/Learn-
improvements to become apparent two to three times a week for three More/Treatment/ECT,-TMS-and-Other-Brain-
(Mayo Clinic, 2016). or four weeks (for a total of 6 to 12 Stimulation-Therapies
treatments). Many people begin to
What is notice an improvement in their
symptoms after about 6 treatments
Electroconvulsive with ECT.
Therapy (ECT)? Some people may be advised not
to return to work or drive during
Electroconvulsive therapy is a and for a short time after the series
procedure that involves the use of of treatments.
small electrical currents that are
passed through the brain to
purposely induce seizures for
Sources:
psychiatric purposes. It causes
changes in the brains chemistry in
order to quickly reverse symptoms
seen with mental illness.
BrownUniversity.(2015).ECTeffectivecompared
withmedicationtreatmentinbipolardepression.
BrownUniversityPsychopharmacologyUpdate,
Electroconvu
ECT can be used to treat:
Severe depression
26(1),23.
lsive Therapy