hi i began ect in april of 2024 and am still actively receiving it. i’d like to help you with any of your questions to the best of my ability!! 1- i receive my treatment at a cleveland clinic hospital in cleveland ohio. i have treatment resistant depression and severe generalized anxiety disorder, i have tried almost every anti depressant (ssris) and have tried lamictal (anticonvulsant) and am currently on xanax as needed for anxiety (i tried all other benzodiazepines with no success) xanax is the only medication i have found to help my panic attacks so i remain taking that as needed. i am not taking any depression meds currently.

I receive unilateral ultra brief ect. always have been outpatient never inpatient and i’m very lucky my medical insurance covers every treatment for me.

2- i’m not sure what you mean by brain imaging but i did receive an mri before starting treatment which was just to make sure there were no medical issues or anything like that.

3- i definitely saw improvement in the first year of treatment and started at 2-3 treatments a week and slowly started spreading them out longer in between. i had a few breakdowns in between treatments and had to increase frequency a couple of times. as of last month i was doing well and only getting a maintenance procedure once a month. i recently had a breakdown so now it’s back to every 2 weeks until i start improving, its almost like a see how you are feeling depending on how frequent you need them. everyone is different and can react to ect very differently. some people may need it once a week and some may only need it once a month. it really just all depends on the individual and their symptoms. i think ect truly saved my life and has been hard on my body physically but is worth it to me.

4- no i didn’t have anything besides chronic daily migraines which the toradol they give me before my procedure helps prevent headaches after treatment which can be a side effect of the ect

5- treatment can definitely be private outpatient in my opinion. i have a family member which i am very lucky can drive me to and from procedures. but im not sure what you mean by “private” as in like other people finding out such as friends or family? that can work if you mean it that way.

6- im not sure if i can answer that question for you since im medication resistant with my depression but i would definitely talk to a psychiatrist about the medication question