Posted by OldSchool on January 26, 2002, at 19:43:46
In reply to ECT and anxiety, posted by bob on January 26, 2002, at 14:48:15
> Does ECT reduce anxiety? I read somewhere that it is not effective for that. Kind of suprises me, considering that many docs consider it the best treatment for depression there is.
I havent read much about ECT for anxiety. I know for a fact ECT is not effective for OCD. ECT has a great reputation at treating all types of mood disorders, all subtypes of mood disorders across the board. Also it has uses in treating refractory schizophrenia and also has "off label" uses in treating parkinsons and anti-psychotic drug induced movement disorders. Its also effective for catatonia and NMS.
Probably the two things ECT is best for is treating psychotic depression and manic depression. Its great for both of those things. The severest of mood disorders. Many people dont know this but ECT is great for mania, not just severe depression.
I did recently read that ECT is not that effective for Generalized Anxiety Disorder, in addition to OCD.
Here is my personal opinion. Ive never had ECT but I have read a lot about it and talked about it with my doctors a lot. If your anxiety is tied in with your mood disorder...oftentimes mood disorders and anxiety disorders overlap...then the ECT would probably knock all of it out. But if your main problem is just anxiety, I dont think ECT would be worth a shot. In fact I doubt you could even find a psychiatrist who would agree to ECT if your primary dx was an anxiety disorder.
But again, mood and anxiety disorders frequently coexist and overlap and if thats the case then ECT would probably work.
Oh another thing I recently read was that ECT increases GABA a lot. As GABA increases, so does your seizure threshhold (harder to have seizures). Increasing GABA is good for anxiety disorders. So I guess maybe ECT would be OK for some types of anxiety disorders.
Old School
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URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020124/msgs/91721.html