ECT: Effective and Frightening
Author: Ronald J. Comer
Princeton University
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This video illustrates what ECT is like today. As you watch, you will see the use of medication to help persons sleep through the procedure, muscle relaxants to reduce thrashing, and oxygen, as well as the consequent reduction of the overt symptoms of the grand mal seizure.
1. One of the main reasons that the use of ECT has declined since the 1950s, beyond the emergence of antidepressant drugs, is the loss of _________ that often follows the procedure. This loss is usually temporary but sometimes permanent.
2. Unlike the early years of ECT, the procedure is performed today with the use of _______ and ________, which make it far less unpleasant than it used to be.
3. The video shows a patient undergoing _______ ECT. We can tell because there are electrodes on both sides of her head.
4. Although it was originally intended to treat ________, we now know that ECT is most effective in the treatment of severe depression.
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