Electroconvulsive Therapy – Looking Past the Stigma
2022
ALEXIS INAMINE: This depression started
30 years ago during my sixth month of pregnancy.
It came on pretty quickly.
I started not to sleep.
I had a lot of anxiety.
It just progressed into such severity
that it went into a psychosis.
When you're that depressed, you lose yourself completely.
MIKE INAMINE: Before the onset of this depression,
she was energetic.
She was working hard.
She was vibrant.
Within a month, life just went upside down.
It was catastrophic.
ALEXIS INAMINE: I tried talk therapy.
I tried medication.
I was treatment-resistant.
ECT was suggested to me.
And I was afraid because of the media
and because of the stigma.
Finally, I decided to do ECT, and that was life-altering.
LAUREN MARASA: ECT stands for Electroconvulsive Therapy.
It is the most effective treatment
we have for severe depressive disorders or those
with treatment-resistant depression.
ECT is much different than it was performed decades ago.
We deliver treatment under general anesthesia.
We will deliver a brief electrical stimulus
to the brain, and that triggers a seizure which
lasts about 30 to 90 seconds.
And it's like pressing reset on the brain.
Then patients wake up, and they recover
in our recovery room for about an hour
before being driven home.
ALEXIS INAMINE: The results were amazing.
MIKE INAMINE: Within two weeks, she was back to herself.
It wonderful to see Alexis become the mother to her son.
ALEXIS INAMINE: Going through ECT was like a resurrection.
It gave me my life back.
Recently, I had another severe depression.
Knowing the ECT works, I was not hesitant.
I actually called Sutter Center for Psychiatry myself
for intake, and they got me in.
Today I am able to live my life again
because of electroconvulsive therapy.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for ECT.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
30 years ago during my sixth month of pregnancy.
It came on pretty quickly.
I started not to sleep.
I had a lot of anxiety.
It just progressed into such severity
that it went into a psychosis.
When you're that depressed, you lose yourself completely.
MIKE INAMINE: Before the onset of this depression,
she was energetic.
She was working hard.
She was vibrant.
Within a month, life just went upside down.
It was catastrophic.
ALEXIS INAMINE: I tried talk therapy.
I tried medication.
I was treatment-resistant.
ECT was suggested to me.
And I was afraid because of the media
and because of the stigma.
Finally, I decided to do ECT, and that was life-altering.
LAUREN MARASA: ECT stands for Electroconvulsive Therapy.
It is the most effective treatment
we have for severe depressive disorders or those
with treatment-resistant depression.
ECT is much different than it was performed decades ago.
We deliver treatment under general anesthesia.
We will deliver a brief electrical stimulus
to the brain, and that triggers a seizure which
lasts about 30 to 90 seconds.
And it's like pressing reset on the brain.
Then patients wake up, and they recover
in our recovery room for about an hour
before being driven home.
ALEXIS INAMINE: The results were amazing.
MIKE INAMINE: Within two weeks, she was back to herself.
It wonderful to see Alexis become the mother to her son.
ALEXIS INAMINE: Going through ECT was like a resurrection.
It gave me my life back.
Recently, I had another severe depression.
Knowing the ECT works, I was not hesitant.
I actually called Sutter Center for Psychiatry myself
for intake, and they got me in.
Today I am able to live my life again
because of electroconvulsive therapy.
I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for ECT.
[MUSIC PLAYING]
Alexis lived with treatment-resistant depression for years until she heard about electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). At first, she was hesitant due to the stigma but decided to give a chance. Within two weeks, she was back to her normal self.
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