Lisa Morrison was only 19 when she received her first dose of electroconvulsive therapy. She was in South Africa, restrained on a treatment table in what was then-called an asylum.
Morrison, now 52, says she was over-medicated, frightened and felt “choiceless.” She’s now the co-author of a study published Aug. 10 in Health Care for Women International that investigated the risks and aftermath of ECT.
The international study, involving 858 participants from 44 countries, found that women patients were less likely than men to report improved mood following ECT and reported worse outcomes than men across the board, including short- and long-term memory loss.
What Is Electroconvulsive Therapy?
ECT is a procedure that passes small electrical currents through the brain to cause a brief seizure and improve symptoms of mental health conditions such as treatment-resistant depression, severe mania associated with bipolar disorder and aggression in people with dementia. ECT is safer today than decades ago, when early treatments used high doses of electricity without general anesthesia.
It is still offered in some cases because, according to the Cleveland Clinic, it can provide relief when medications or therapy haven’t worked and can work relatively quickly. Makesha Joyner, MD, a board-certified psychiatrist at Kaiser Permanente, wrote that many of her patients reported improved mood and decreased symptom severity within a couple of weeks.
However, the treatment can still cause significant side effects, according to the Mayo Clinic. They include confusion, which can last from a few minutes to several days; memory loss; nausea; headaches; jaw pain; and medical complications such as temporarily increased heart rate and blood pressure during the procedure.
Paris Jackson, daughter of Michael Jackson, recently told Page Six about her “painful” experience receiving nine ECT treatments in three weeks after being “very, very close” to attempting suicide.
Jackson said friends visited her during this time, but she has no recollection of their conversations, citing amnesia as one side effect. Memory loss associated with ECT can include retrograde amnesia, in which a patient forgets events in the weeks or months — sometimes, though rarely, even years — before treatment. While the treatment “was working” for Jackson, she said that “getting shocked once a month” for the rest of her life was not sustainable.
Most treatments in the United States are given two to three times per week for three to four weeks. Patients who need maintenance ECT usually get treatment every two to four weeks for six months to a year. A lifetime schedule is rare.
Women Report Worse Outcomes
On average, studies show women are at least twice as likely to receive ECT as men. The August study found that 81% of psychiatrists administering the treatment were men, even though women make up a slight majority of psychiatrists in the United States.
Women also reported greater pressure to consent than men (36.8% versus 22.4%), and fewer women described their involvement as voluntary (49.9% versus 63.5%). However, the differences were marginal among those who reported receiving ECT “without my consent/against my will.” Overall, fewer women (15%) than men (29%) said they would want to have ECT again.
Sarah Hancock, a co-author of the study based in San Diego, says she lost the ability to read and type, lost her balance and could not form new memories for two years after she stopped treatment.
“This survey demonstrates my experience wasn’t as rare an outlier as my doctors, counselors and mental health staff led me to believe,” Hancock says.
Morrison says that being diagnosed with a series of mental illnesses without an understanding of her trauma led her to believe she would be ill her entire life.
The study aimed to illuminate that disconnect, in which ECT is prescribed “without first addressing the real underlying causes of the symptoms in the first place … like being in a situation of abuse,” Hancock says.
Researchers Call for Better Patient Information
The authors of the study have mixed views on what they want their research to accomplish. Some want ECT banned altogether, while others want stronger FDA regulations. Across the board, they believe research on ECT is outdated and that the information given to patients is insufficient.
“It was to highlight people’s actual experiences to bring more into the mainstream,” Morrison says. “When you’re deemed mentally ill, your testimony is not seen as valid, reliable, trustworthy. So often our voices aren’t heard and are marginalized.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Paris Jackson Opens Up About ‘Painful’ Electroconvulsive Therapy. She’s Not Alone
Reporting by Alyssa Goldberg, USA TODAY / USA TODAY
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