What is Electroconvulsive Therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy , also known as Electroshock Therapy or simply Shock Therapy is a treatment used to cure psychiatrical disorderliness . In electroconvulsive therapy artificial seizure are induce with the assistance of electric jounce which help in curing various psychiatric disorders . Electroconvulsive therapy was first used in 1938 and was after come in in the high risk of exposure treatment category by United States Food and Drug Administration ( FDA ) in 1976 .
Even though electroconvulsive therapy was wide and sometimes indiscriminately used in the 50 ’s and 60 ’s , its use declined in the later decades . It was in part due to the discovery of more effective drug to handle various psychiatric disorders like mania and depression but the movie “ One Flew Over The Cuckoo ’s Nest ” also played a part in it , in which Jack Nicholson played the part of a patient who is repeatedly given electroconvulsive shocks .
How Was Electroconvulsive Therapy Discovered?
As the story goes , Ugo Cerletti- an Italian professor of neuropsychiatry ; after look on slob in slaughter theatre develop the idea of using electroconvulsive therapy on humans . Electric shock were give to pigs to make them unconscious , making the slaughter well-fixed . The idea of inducing shocks to cover mental illness was not Modern by any means . Even Benjamin Franklin save about it . But commonly those shocks were produced by various chemical substance like camphor and metrazol . Cerletti along with his colleague Lucio Bini used electric shock on a human patient role in 1938 .
Who is Administered Electroconvulsive Therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy treatment is only impart to those patients who resist all other kinds of treatments . Electroconvulsive therapy is the last line of treatment . It is only used when all other option give out .
How Effective Is Electroconvulsive Therapy?
The effectiveness of electroconvulsive therapy is only about 50 % according to various researches and experimentations . Even those that respond can not be assured of the effectiveness as half of those lapsing within twelve months of receiving electroconvulsive therapy .
How is Electroconvulsive Therapy Done?
Electroconvulsive therapy is usually done over a period of two weeks where the treatments can be six to twelve in act . The whole procedure takes less than half an hour . Two types of procedures are usually used to mete out electroconvulsive therapy :
Unilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy Procedure
In this character of electroconvulsive therapy , electrode are locate on the same side of the read/write head which normally does n’t causememory lossand let the affected role keep his memory board though it is less in effect than bilateral electroconvulsive therapy .
Bilateral Electroconvulsive Therapy Procedure
In bilateral electroconvulsive therapy electrodes are placed on both the sides of the head which causes red ink of retentivity but it seems to be more effective .
In both the cases , a general anaesthesia is deal out and the patient is give muscle relaxants through an quaternity prior to therapy so as to keep crushed bone and vertebral editorial .
Then blow are given to the patient through those electrode . The number and intensity of shocks take issue from patient to affected role .
How Does Electroconvulsive Therapy Works?
It is not actually known how or why electroconvulsive therapy work where traditional medicines do n’t , even though we do make out that it changes the design of profligate stream in the mind . Different citizenry trust dissimilar possibility ranging from some tell that its works just like anti - depressant medications while there are others who say that it releases some special chemicals in the body that help in curing the disorder while still others think that it does n’t actually cures the disorderliness but rather creates an illusion of health which the brain believes because it gets confused after the use of electroconvulsive therapy .
Electroconvulsive Therapy is Most Useful in the Treatment of Which Medical Conditions?
Electroconvulsive therapy is actually used as a last resort to cure a turn of disorders . Some of them are as follows :
Major Depressive Disorders
Electroconvulsive therapy is used to bring around a numeral of depressive disorder such as acutedepressiondue toParkinson ’s disease , Huntington’schorea andmultiple induration . Electroconvulsive therapy is used when all other treatments give out or there is a risk of a soul committing suicide .
Psychosis
Psychosis is a condition of acutedepression , where a person is unplug with reality and sometimes even refuses to eat . Electroconvulsive therapy is used in this stipulation also .
Catatonia
Electroconvulsive therapy is also used to treat catatonia which is essentially a land in which the mortal neither relocation nor talk and is said to be gone into a catatonic Department of State .
Mania
Electroconvulsive therapy can also be used for people suffering from severe mania in which the patient role get highly agitated or euphoric for no apparent reason whatsoever . It is also characterized by poor decision devising and risky and dangerous behavior , substance vilification etc .
Schizophrenia
Those patients who are suffering fromschizophreniaand are show little to no response to antipsychotic agent can be treated with the help of electroconvulsive therapy .
Others
Electroconvulsive therapy can also be used to treat some other disorder such asdementiaetc .
What are the Benefits of Using Electroconvulsive Therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy may be a wild treatment and it may be used only when all other selection fail , but there are sure benefits attach to it as well . Some of the benefits of Electroconvulsive therapy are mentioned below :
What are the Adverse Side Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy?
Apart from the psyche , the physical adverse effects of electroconvulsive therapy are not severe and are very similar to those of general anesthesia . Some of those adverse side effects are as follows :
Short-Term Side Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy
One of the side effects of Electroconvulsive therapy is that the person may become confused when he wakes up after electroconvulsive therapy . He may also see short term store loss . Disorientation is common in patient for a while after electroconvulsive therapy . They may also experience some side effects like rawness due to the role of brawniness relaxant . Headache and nausea are also quite common . Patients may also have difficultness in learning young stuff during electroconvulsive therapy but it usually goes away after the period of treatment is over .
Long-Term Side Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy
Some people claim to have had lasting brain legal injury after electroconvulsive therapy even though doc believe that the shock wave used for the therapy are not high enough in strength to be able-bodied to make nous scathe . retentivity loss though go back in most cases can be permanent in some people . Electroconvulsive therapy if combined with deep sleep therapy may lead to hypoxia or anoxia which in go , can cause nous hurt . Electroconvulsive therapy has also been known to cause cognitive harm .
What are the Legal Ramifications of Electroconvulsive Therapy?
Even though there are different Torah in different country , WHO ( World Health Organization ) give notice to utilise electroconvulsive therapy after the informed consent of the patients which essentially imply that the affected role should be state about all the ramification , both in effect and bad , before he or she is asked to make a determination . The doctor may go on with the electroconvulsive therapy only after the affected role give his or her consent which he or she can pull in one’s horns at any time during the course of the procedure . If the patient is unable to make a determination then their legal guardians will make the conclusion free-base on the affected role ’s wish .
How is Electroconvulsive Therapy Different Today From Before?
Even though it is still a hazardous process , present day electroconvulsive therapy differs a lot from the earlier one as there have been many changes in the technology . Some of them are :
So , these are some of the thing which have made electroconvulsive therapy a much safer selection . But before you make a decision , you should go through all the pros and cons so that you may make a truly informed decision .
