Electroconvulsive Therapy Program

The outpatient Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Program serves patients generally over 65 with a psychiatric disorder amenable to outpatient ECT. Age exceptions are made if there is a concurrent neuropsychiatric disorder such as Parkinson’s Disease or dementia, or as space permits. ECT is provided as an acute treatment course to attain remission or to maintain wellness. Patients must be referred by a doctor. For further information, please contact our ECT nurse at 604-877-8142

Admission Criteria:

• Patients must have a physician, preferably a psychiatrist, responsible for the overall psychiatric monitoring of the patient’s progress, including pharmacological management and psychotherapy, if applicable.
• Patients must have access to transportation, ideally accompanied by an adult to and from hospital, as the hospital does not provide or pay for transportation.
• Duration of involvement in the program may be limited or indefinite depending on the clinical circumstances. Our overall goal is to reduce the frequency of treatments and eventually stop treatments, as appropriate.
• Patients or another responsible adult must be able to ensure nothing has been taken by mouth prior to treatment and that necessary medications are taken the morning of treatments.
• Patients must have 24 hour supervision following treatments due to use of general anesthetic.

Discharge Criteria

• Patient no longer requires ECT to maintain wellness.
• Potential risks outweigh the potential benefits for the patient.

Recommended Reading

• Undercurrents: A therapist’s reckoning with her own Depression by Martha Manning.
• Struck by Living: From Depression to Hope by Julie K. Hersh.
• Will I ever be the same again? Transforming the face of ECT (Shock Therapy) by Carol A. Kivler.