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Whencomedian Gary Gulmanwas told to tryECT — electroconvulsive therapy— to treat his severe depression, he was scared.
“It used to be called electroshock therapy, but they felt that wasn’t quite horrifying enough. ‘If we could underscore thewrithing…’ ” he jokes in his new HBO documentary,The Great Depresh.
“ECT has changed dramatically since it was first introduced in the mid ’30s,” she tells PEOPLE. “In the early days, in the 1930s, 1940s, they didn’t use anesthesia. That was part of the historical image that has led to some of the stigma about it, because without anesthesia, when you do ECT, the body shakes like a person with epilepsy.”
“Modern ECT is done under anesthesia,” she continues, “the body does not move at all, because the anesthesia relaxes the muscles and protects the body during the seizure. And we use less electricity than in the old days. That has dramatically improved the safety profile of ECT.”
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That was something that Gulman experienced, and he initially panicked when he couldn’t remember the jokes he uses to start his set.
“I started crying in the shower: ‘Oh my god, I’ve erased my brain!’ ” Gulman tells PEOPLE. “I called my psychiatrist and he said, ‘Don’t worry, it’s normal. It’ll come back to you.’ And it did.”
Gulman is doing well, and between ECT, medication and therapy he’s able to manage his depression, though he’s aware that it may return.
And just a few ECT treatments — around one per month — is sufficient. “That can be sustaining for people long term. I’m talking years,” she says.
“What we’re really striving for is something that would not cause memory loss, because you shouldn’t have to choose between your memories and your mood,” she says. “And people with severe depression deserve to have the safest, most effective treatment that we can provide.”
If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255), text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 or go to suicidepreventionlifeline.org.
source: people.com
