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When we lived in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, my wife went through two episodes of a nervous breakdown (triggered by post partum depression) back in 1965 and 1971. The first time (two weeks after our first son was born) our pastor and I took her to the mental hospital (at 3 in the morning), she thought she was Mary, I was Joseph, and our son was Jesus. All my life growing up in Arkansas the mental hospital at Little Rock was a gloomy, forbidding place where people went in and never came out. This was what I thought I was in for with my wife. I got to visit her two weeks later, and she was a changed lady. She was the person I had loved and married 5 years earlier. What caused this dramatic change was Electro Convulsive Therapy (ECT). She remained hospitalized for three months receiving periodic ECT and Insulin Shock Therapy. I was able to visit her on the grounds for two hours on Wednesdays and Sundays. The treatment is neither barbaric nor painful. She was given a muscle relaxant to avoid breaking bones during the ECT, plus a mouth piece to protect the teeth. She would be a little dazed and experienced loss of short term memory for about two hours after the ECT. The unconscious state is absolutely immediate and she experienced no pain (or at least never has had any memory of experiencing pain). It was the most dramatic thing I have ever seen in my life. Her memory of many events during a few months prior to her hospitalization has never completely returned, that portion has been partially erased. Her second time (six weeks after our third son was born) was at her request, because she had come to recognize when she needed help. Too bad the treatment has received bad un-informed publicity and we just allow people who could be helped to roam the streets homeless. The bleeding heart do-gooders are actually doing those people a disservice. ECT was directly responsible for nearly emptying our mental hospitals a few decades ago. However, there was no follow up and continued periodic treatment for most of those who needed it. I'm not a doctor, but having some knowledge as an engineer and some knowledge of the brain's operation, I liken the situation to a computer that has to be shut down and re-booted to get rid of the corruption that has occurred in the programming. I think this is what ECT accomplishes. Of course when that happens, we sometimes lose data or files that were in use when the system crashed. I'm sure that there have been tremendous improvements over the last 27 years. I recommend it without reservation if the Doctor thinks it is a proper treatment for your Mother's condition. Who knows, it might even be great for someone with PD. Jump start those little dopamine producing suckers. [log in to unmask] (home) [log in to unmask] (work) > ---------- > From: Nancy > Fox[SMTP:[log in to unmask]] > Sent: Tuesday, September 15, 1998 7:27 AM > To: Multiple recipients of list PARKINSN > > 9/15/98 2:25 > PM > > does anyone out there know anything about shock therapy (or maybe > experienced > it firsthand)?? > > my mother's (mom=56/7) psychiatrist is in favor of her having it to > combat the > depression and anxiety (probably caused by her parkinson's). she's an > inpatient now in the hospital-- first they have to monitor her as her > meds are > lowered before they can start the treatments. > > it's a scary thought, although i've been told it's not nearly as > barbaric as > we envision it (they've made many improvements in this technique over > the > years). anyway, i'd love to hear from anyone who knows about it, > especially > if it's positive (i'll take the negative, too, of course). > > thanks!! > > nancy > > Special > Announcement >