I was told it restarts your brain: knowledge, power, and women's experiences of ECT

A discrepancy exists between clinician-led studies of people's experience of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and consumer-led studies, with the former typically being much more positive about the efficacy and side effects of ECT compared with the latter. Qualitative in-depth explorations of people's experiences of ECT are relatively rare, particularly those looking specifically at women's experience of ECT.

The aim of this qualitative study was to explore women's experiences of ECT, particularly their experience of knowledge and power related to ECT.

Qualitative analysis of the interviews with nine women resulted in four main themes emerging from the interviews with the women: (i) "he really didn't say much," (ii) "I'm going to be very upset with you," (iii) "I was just desperate," and (iv) "it was like we were cattle."

Overall, participants found their experiences with ECT to be quite negative, and characterized by a lack of knowledge during the procedure, and a lack of power throughout the entire process.