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A12 - The Terrace ‘Standard, Wadnesday, September 06, 1995

MENTALHEALTH &§_*

oneck treatment requested |

By J EFF NAGEL
SHOCK TREATMENTS for
mental patients went out of style
in the 1960s.*. ©

But they're coming back, and

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)
could soon be available in Ter-

race if a Closer Ta Home grant

application is approved,
About $28,000 is being te-
quested for the machine and oper-

ating- ‘money. required ‘to provide ..-

the. service at Mills Memorial
Hospital’s psychiatric unit.

And the local, doctor making the
request, says the treatment. hus
come a long: way since it was
demonized ‘in movies’ like: One’
Flew Over The Cuckoo’s Nest. -

“It’s an important, safe and ef —

fective treatment,” says Dr. Gil-”
lian Hodge, “who - practises
regional geriatric. psychiatry from‘
Terrace Mental Health.. “It really. ;
is a mainstream treatment now.”
The popular reputation “of ‘the
treatment: is one’of massive sei-

zures leading to broken bones, in-

juries and loss of memory,

Today’s: electroconvulsive -
therapy is so radically different.
from those days as to be ‘un-
Feeognizable,

Electrodes and monitoring
devices are connected to the.
patient, but much less electric”
current is used.

_. The treatment is performed un-

der general anaesthetic, arid mus---

cle relaxants are used to eliminate . _

all muscle spasms except for a

minor twitching of the toes, .
“Although | there’s a seizure,

there’s not the major contractions

“of a geizure,”’ Hodge’ says; ‘And —
there is no evidence of memory

loss,?* a

The seizure lasts about 45 sec-
onds and the patient wakes up im-
mediately afterward, ~~

A testatment to its safety is its
proven use with geriatric patients,

“The ‘severely depressed frail
and elderly often do better with

ECT than they do with traditional
. anti-depressant .
“Hodge ‘noted, «

“drugs are harder'on the body than

medications,”
"explaining: the

the treatment,:.-
- Doctors still don’t know exactly .

electric current are beneficial to
some psychiatric patients.

- But. its believed they” help
normalize the “ghemical: ‘tans-..

Mitters in the brn. that are

altered in depressed patients.
‘Electroconvulsive -therapy is

-Most. often used for severely

depressed patients who haven’t
improved using conventional
anti-d epressant drugs.

Is occasionally used in the

“treatment of people who are

manic of schizophrenic, and is

often effective as a first-line treat
ment with people who are ex-

tal health in some at-risk people,
who suffer from recurrent depres-

Sion, warding off bouts of illness. .
before they occur, |

Hodge says she’s personally -
convinced of the’ treatment’s

safety and value.

‘Pve put down in my “Living
will that if I ever get clinically

‘depressed and need ECT, I want

to have it,”
And the treatment has support

. from hospital administrators, who
why the seizures ‘produced by —

sec it as a way of saving money.
Hospital ‘stays for patients who
receive electroconvulsive therapy
are as much as 40 per cent shorter
than for patients undergoing a
course of medication.

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_ Hodge’s main obstacle in getting | ;
the service here. °

' Nest did a lot of damage,” she

elsewhere. This is the only region

tremiély suicidal, and in cases of %f the province: where ECT is not

» psychotic depression,

It’s also used to maintain men- "
» Prince. George: or . the - Lower: ©

Mainland — or more’ often simp-
ly don’t get the treatment at all.

year could benefit from the treat-
ment, Hodge said.

to 12 treatments,

; ‘The proposal predicts “vty |
significant -
_ psychiatric unit.

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Patients must ‘now: travel to

If approved, up to 25 patients a.

A course of ECT consists of 8

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