Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

What is Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)?

While medications are effective for many individuals, they do not work for everyone. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is a safe and effective treatment option for people with major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder (depressive or manic episodes), acute psychosis, or catatonia. The stigma surrounding ECT often stems from its early use, when treatments were administered without anesthesia and involved higher doses of electricity. Today, ECT is delivered with modern techniques, including brief anesthesia and precisely controlled electrical stimulation, making it a low-risk and well-tolerated procedure.

UR Medicine's Approach

To become a patient at our clinic, your psychiatrist will need to provide a referral. You will then be scheduled for a consultation with one of our ECT clinic psychiatrists.

If ECT is recommended, an ECT clinic nurse will contact you to set up your first appointment. Your nurse will also help the doctors coordinate your ECT treatment plan.

Here are some things to know about your day of treatment:

Our nurses will give you a short assessment and take your blood pressure.
You will be given anesthesia through an IV that will cause you to fall asleep during the procedure.
We will keep you safe by monitoring your vital signs.
An EEG will be used to monitor your brain’s electrical activity during your treatment.
After your treatment, you will be in the recovery area for about an hour.

Your evaluation and treatments will be done by our psychiatrists. An anesthesiology team will assist our psychiatrist in providing safe, comfortable, and effective treatments. ECT treatments are offered Monday, Wednesday, and Friday mornings.

What Sets Us Apart?

The UR Medicine Electroconvulsive Therapy Clinic provides ECT in an atmosphere that is private, comfortable, safe, and compassionate, with a staff dedicated to ECT. Our team is highly experienced in ECT and is dedicated, supportive, and knowledgeable. We make ECT comfortable using a brief period of anesthesia.