MaineHealth cares about your physical and mental health. Learn more about our exceptional behavioral health services, including electroconvulsive therapy.
What is electroconvulsive therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a safe and effective medical treatment for certain psychiatric conditions that are not helped with other behavioral health services such as medication or therapy. ECT can be a positive option when medication treatment is unsafe, or has serious side effects.
What kind of doctor provides ECT?
ECT treatment teams are specially trained to deliver the best possible patient outcomes The treatment team usually includes:
- Board-certified psychiatrists
- Board-certified anesthesiologists
- Registered nurses
Is ECT safe?
ECT can be used to treat psychiatric disorders in individuals of all ages, from adolescents to the elderly. It is safe for individuals with serious general medical conditions and in women who are pregnant. The great majority of patients treated with ECT experience significant improvement. Scientific studies show that ECT produces substantial improvement in about 80% of people with severe depression.
ECT is recognized as a very safe and effective treatment by the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Psychiatric Association (APA), the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and similar organizations in Canada, Great Britain, and Europe.
More about ECT
ECT is delivered in a medical suite where there is a waiting area, a treatment room, and a recovery area. ECT can be given while a patient is in the hospital, but being hospitalized is not a requirement for an individual to receive ECT.
The ECT procedure applies a small amount of electricity to the scalp to produce a brief seizure in the brain. Like many other medical procedures, ECT is administered to a patient who is under general anesthesia. The patient is asleep, and the procedure is painless.
There is no standard number of treatments; however, an acute course generally averages 2-3 treatments per week, for a total of 8-12 treatments. Many individuals continue treatment, often gradually reducing treatment frequency over several months. Some individuals choose maintenance ECT for chronic illness.
Individuals appropriate for ECT are referred by their medical providers and our ECT team determines eligibility. Individuals most eligible include the following:
- Severely depressed individuals who require a rapidly effective treatment
- Individuals with depression who have demonstrated unsuccessful results from medication treatments
- Individuals who, due to their medical conditions or other reasons such as pregnancy, cannot take recommended antidepressant medication because of potential unsafe side effects
- Individuals with acute psychosis not responsive to medications alone
- Individuals with a severe psychiatric condition known as catatonia
- Individuals with a variety of other conditions, such as severe mania, delirium, neuroleptic malignant syndrome, and severe Parkinson's with depression and psychosis
- Individuals with neuropsychiatric disturbances sometimes seen in dementia and developmental disorders
How to access ECT services
A provider referral is required for ECT treatment. For more information, please call 207-662-3129.