20 april 2022 – 08:51
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a good treatment for severe, long-term depressed patients. Negative memories can make patients more likely to relapse into depression. This is the first study to show that ECT can improve negative thoughts and memories in depressed patients.
Research with data from the Dutch Healthcare Authority (NZA) shows that patients with a long-term (longer than 2 years) depressive disorder are treated too little with ECT. Only 1.2% of this group receives this therapy while 26% of this group may benefit from ECT. This means that every year 20,000 patients do not receive this treatment, even though they are eligible for it. Referrals for ECT get stuck in daily practice. Scheepens therefore concludes that depressive disorders are still not optimally treated. There are unnecessarily many depressed patients who are not properly referred or informed.
Fade Away – Targeting negative schemas with electroconvulsive therapy
Source: Amsterdam UMC