Electroconvulsive Therapy Day 14

[naliniarun]

Oh yeh, how are you doing as of now? Any maintenance treatment/ Your videos are so pleasing....I love them & you are such a pleasant person. Wish you & your family, good health, peace & happiness!

[daleshankins]

@naliniarun I am doing much better. I seem to have found the right mix of exercise, diet, therapy and medication. I have not had any ECT treatments for several years now. :-)

[naliniarun]

Hi dear Dale, Loved your videos...you don't know how much courage they give folks who have to undergo this...I too feel it is worth a tradeoff to loose some memory in order to live happily & depression free. People do not realize that it is no longer performed inhumanely & unscientifically.

[ArgotMay]

Peace to you Dale!

[ArgotMay]

Ayahuasca mushrooms under positive circumstances can help many. Glad this helped a few people from their horrible suffering. I just hope people try every other way of getting help first because the patients I saw who got shock treatments changed permanently for the worse, except they weren't tortured by the memories they had previously anymore. Most didn't remember much of anything.

[junglesurvivalcamp]

i hear this destroys your ego.

[ArgotMay]

@junglesurvivalcamp The ego takes a back seat for a lifetime. It will be in the front seat again in another life. The ego is a great servant, and a terrible master. Not my quote....

[dailybathos]

ugh. you people need to stop badmouthing various depression/bi-polar treatments just because YOU had a bad experience. the world does not revolve around you, so do the world a favor and pull your heads out of your asses. for this gentleman, ect has improved his life. see? other people exist in the world as well! ...what a surprise.

[shp0ngle]

You only think it has improved? Right. You tell yoursaelf that to live on happily...I have also gone throu this shit. I was awake during one of twelwe threatments. They have messed up my memory good.

[daleshankins]

@shp0ngle I meant no one any harm. I was just sharing my experience. Sorry to have upset you. Peace.

[shp0ngle]

@daleshankins

ok, no problems. Good if you are better. Im fucked up. hate them soo hard. peace

[shp0ngle]

@daleshankins

No problem. I just hate all of them who lied too me and gave me that shit. fuck em hard.

[JeffRotull43]

Improved? Now that's something I haven't heard before!

[daleshankins]

My long term memory was terrible during the years of depression and bipolar disorder. It is much better now.

[JeffRotull43]

I seem to have missed posts between 9 and this one.

How is memory faring? Have you had any lapses, such a not remembering an entire conversation you might have had with somebody? That was happening to me a lo a the time and even a few weeks after.

[daleshankins]

My last ECT treatment was in October of 2004. As for forgetting entire conversations...that was common when I was suffering suicidal depression. It is less common now, but it still happens. When I have spoken to childhood friends and relatives about this their recollection is that I was always "absent minded". So it is very difficult for me to determine the true effect of ECT on memory...except to say that my memory seemed to improve as a result of ECT.

[revkelly58]

Dude, I hope this continues to go well for you. I am a RN and have participated in these treatments. It has been the most difficult jobs I have ever done. We never really see the benefits of ECT, just the treatments. God Bless.

[daleshankins]

Bless you for doing a job that few have the fortitude to do. ECT has been very helpful to me. I believe that it should be used only as a last resort, but my experience on the whole has been a positive one.

[ArgotMay]

@revkelly58 I have seen many before and after. This man's case is different from the ones I have seen.

[dabomboo7o]

It concerns me that to this day we still do not know the biological operational mechanisms that make it a effective treatment for depression.

Also curious if depression runs in your family, and what roll that would play into a persons life. The environmental impact of being raised with a depressed parent, and whether or not knowing that you are susceptible, does that make depression a self fulfilling prophecy?

[daleshankins]

Actually there is some very good/hard neurological research into the physical basis for depression. I recommend the work of V.S. Ramachandran.

[Superlative28]

Thanks for posting these videos. Hopefully your story will educate the public on the ECT experience.

[daleshankins]

Maybe so. Thanks for watching.

[ArgotMay]

@Superlative28 It isn't always positive. 

[scurvdog84]

Thank You Dale. For the most objective view on it I've found. Considering it myself, and kind of asking real people and researching online.

[daleshankins]

Sorry to hear that you are not feeling well. ECT can be very effective and it has helped me immeasurably...but I recognize it is not for everybody. To me the absolute essential is to find a psychiatrist whom you trust and then follow their advice.

Hope you feel better soon.

[chickenscraps]

hello i agree

[stopdroppingbombs]

Glad to see you doing good mate.

xx

[daleshankins]

Thank you for thinking of me and taking the time to make a comment.

[2LegHumanist]

Good luck mate. Hope the treatments work out well for you.

[daleshankins]

Thanks for thinking of me.

[StevenErnest]

Wishing you all the best, Dale.

I have to admit that I've been avoiding watching your vids on this subject, as I have Bi-Polar Disorder, much milder than your difficulties, but it still cuts a bit too close to home for me. My thoughts are with you, and wishing you beneficial results!

[daleshankins]

Thanks for watching. I wish you well with your disorder.

[daleshankins]

Your thoughts are very important to me. Thanks for being there.

[bubonicnate]

love to hear things are going well!

[daleshankins]

Thanks.

[pdoeman]

Great stuff Dale.

It will also be good to hear about any longer-term benefits that you might have got from the treatment.