ECT: Disrupting the Stigma Around An Essential Treatment Option

Living with severe mental illness, or caring for someone who does, can be difficult even when standard treatment options show improvement. But what about when no treatment has worked? In this video, two of our patients share their stories. Learn how electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) changed their lives and helped when nothing else did.

While the stigma revolving around mental health in the United States has decreased in recent years, the stigma around using ECT as a treatment for severe mental illness unfortunately remains largely intact.

However, despite negative pop culture depictions and outdated notions of how it works, modern ECT treatment, rather than being something to fear, has been both the last option for many patients – and the only thing that has worked.

Many patients benefit from ECT at University of Michigan Health. The ECT Program at University of Michigan Health specializes in administering ECT to patients with severe mood disorders for whom no other treatment has worked.

This video has been made possible through philanthropic support. We would like to thank Wally Prechter.

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To read more of George's story, visit: https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/psych...

To learn more about ECT, please visit our website: https://medicine.umich.edu/dept/psych...

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