#WHO MADE THE ART FOR THE SUFFERER AND THE WITNESS PROFESSIONAL#
If the health professional feels you don't currently have the capacity to give consent, and you have not made an advance decision or formally appointed anyone to make decisions for you, they will need to carefully consider what is in your best interests before making a decision. If the health professional feels you have the capacity to give your consent, your decision will be accepted and your wishes will continue to be respected, even if you lose capacity at a later stage. This will usually be done by an appropriately trained and experienced health professional who is either recommending the treatment or investigation, or is involved in carrying it out. communicate their decision by talking, using sign language or by any other meansĪs capacity can sometimes change over time, it should be assessed at the time that consent is required.understand information about the decision.Someone with such an impairment is thought to be unable to make a decision if they cannot: intoxication caused by drug or alcohol misuse.physical or mental conditions that cause confusion, drowsiness or a loss of consciousness.brain damage – for example, from a stroke or other brain injury.mental health conditions – such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
"Capacity" means the ability to use and understand information to make a decision, and communicate any decision made.Ī person lacks capacity if their mind is impaired or disturbed in some way, and this means the person is unable to make a decision at that time.Įxamples of how a person's brain or mind may be impaired include: See neurosurgery for mental disorder for more information on these treatments.Īll adults are presumed to have sufficient capacity to decide on their own medical treatment, unless there is significant evidence to suggest otherwise. In addition, if nothing else has helped and you are still severely depressed, you may be offered neurosurgery for mental disorder, vagus nerve stimulation, or deep brain stimulation. This is still being researched, and is not generally available in the UK at the moment, unless you are taking part in research. (See depression, talking treatments, antidepressants and arts therapies for more information.)Īnother physical treatment which is considered to be comparable to ECT is transcranial magnetic stimulation, a technique which stimulates the brain using magnetic fields. These should have included talking therapies, antidepressant drugs, and perhaps arts therapies. If the NICE guidelines are being followed, you will only be offered ECT (in most cases) if you have tried other treatments and found them unsuccessful, unhelpful or unacceptable. I did experience short term memory loss following the treatment but that gradually faded with time… I would choose to have the treatment again if I needed it. Some of the symptoms listed above may subside quickly, but some may last for weeks, months, or even permanently. Some people may become very confused between treatments, and on rare occasions may become restless or agitated.
The general anaesthetic (as for any procedure where it is used) carries a risk of illness and a very small risk of death, separate from the ECT treatment itself. Some people have had injuries to their teeth or jaw, or other muscles, but physical injury from the convulsions should be minimised by the muscle relaxant. Very rarely, people may experience prolonged fits, especially if they are taking drugs or have medical conditions which lower the seizure threshold (see 'How ECT is given'). Other side effects that may occur immediately after treatment are: Some people have been so badly affected that they have lost key skills or knowledge. However, for some people, memory loss can mean both losing personal memories, and having difficulty remembering new information. (This is also a recognised effect of fits caused by epilepsy.) It is usually a short-term effect, and most people find their memories gradually return as they recover from ECT. The most important side effect of ECT, and the one which causes most concern, is memory loss.
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