Natalie Deeth can’t remember her wedding day. Nor can she remember giving birth to her children.
She’s lost 27 years of her memories after undergoing about a hundred electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments for major depression.
But she says the memory loss is worth it. Natalie can now get through the day without the debilitating, dark moods and suicidal thoughts. It saved her life.
“I was extremely suicidal to the point where I was self harming, trying to just get rid of the pain that seemed real,” she tells SBS’s Insight.
Natalie says ECT was necessary because extensive psychotherapy and medication hadn’t worked.
“It’s allowed me to be a mother to my children and a wife to my husband again, which I know confidently with the depression and the suicidal thoughts that I had, I wouldn't be if I hadn't had ECT.”
WATCH A PREVIEW: Natalie on ECT and her memory loss
ECT treatments on the rise
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), also known as electroshock therapy, is used to treat people with conditions like mania, psychosis and severe, treatment-resistant depression.
In Australia, the number of ECT treatments has almost doubled in the last ten years, with just under 30,000 sessions taking place in the last financial year. The Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists says ECT “is a highly therapeutic procedure with a strong evidence base”.
Most people don’t suffer the extreme memory loss that Natalie had, but short term memory loss is common. ECT can also have a high relapse rate.
However, advocates of ECT say the side effects are minimal and worth it.
“Despite the side effects, I think what [Natalie is] finding is that the quality of life improvement is substantial,” says psychiatrist Colleen Loo.
Professor Loo believes ECT is the most effective treatment for severe depression, but admits it doesn’t work for everyone.
“I'm certainly not saying ECT is the treatment for everyone with depression, I think the careful matching of the treatment to the patient is the most important thing.”
How effective is ECT?
But some experts question the efficacy of ECT altogether.
Clinical psychologist John Read disagrees with the use of ECT, claiming the procedure has no last benefits and “cannot be scientifically justified.”
He believes ECT causes brain damage and there are safe and effective alternatives.
“[There is] no evidence that it has long term benefit and significant evidence that for a large number of people it causes permanent brain damage. That's a major concern.”
Still, some ECT patients remain unconvinced. Despite her severe memory loss, Natalie believes ECT doesn’t need to be perfect for it to work.
“I honestly have been on so much medication that it's costing my family a fortune and it wasn't working. I was still suicidal, I was not a part of my family.
“The ECT worked for me… it doesn't have to be perfect to work for you. If it saves your life isn't that more important to your family?”
This week, Insight brings together psychiatrists, researchers, and patients who’ve had ECT –some voluntarily, some against their will – to ask how effective the therapy is in the long term and whether there are better alternatives to treat depression.
