1/ Just published ECT case study from a Louisiana hospital: Catatonic patient received 2 ECT sessions, which were then cancelled bc of the pandemic.

Patient lapsed back into catatonia.

Instead of ECT, doctors treated patient with antipsychotics . . . https://gpsych.bmj.com/content/33/6/e100271">https://gpsych.bmj.com/content/3...
2/ The patient recovered from the catatonia on the antipsychotics and ativan - no ECT was necessary this time.

Here& #39;s what& #39;s interesting:

Rather than conclude that this showed that catatonia can resolve without shock treatment, the doctors concluded something else . . .
3/ The doctors concluded that hospitals must take extra precaution to ensure patients get ECT during the pandemic:

"Anaesthesiologists will need to be flexible while working with psychiatrists and identify safe ways to provide this necessary psychiatric treatment for patients."
4/ Considering the widely reported long-term side effects of ECT (memory loss & cognitive impairment) - which seem to develop faster & resolve less often than side effects associated with medications - shouldn& #39;t the conclusion be that ECT may not be necessary to treat catatonia?
5/ Two other notes: The patient was a trauma survivor. And there& #39;s no mention that doctors tried any other treatments besides ECT and drugs.
You can follow @msimonson19.
Tip: mention @twtextapp on a Twitter thread with the keyword “unroll” to get a link to it.

Latest Threads Unrolled: