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Depression
Treatment and Research - Electroconvulsive Therapy
Before electroconvulsive therapy is given, a patient takes a muscle
relaxant and is put under brief anesthesia. He or she does not
consciously feel the electrical impulse from ECT. A patient
typically will have ECT several times a week, and often will also
need to take an antidepressant or mood stabilizing medication to
prevent the depression from returning. Although some patients will
need only a few courses of ECT, others may need follow-up
treatments, usually once a week at first, then gradually decreasing
to monthly for up to one year.
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