Electroconvulsive therapy saved woman from depression with psychosis
LONDON: A woman claims electroconvulsive therapy saved her from the black hole of depression with psychosis. Walking down the streets of Alice Springs, town crier Meredith Campbell rings a bell and calls out greetings to the people she passes.
Smiling brightly, she says moments like these still feel like a miracle.
Just six months ago, Ms Campbell was in the darkest place she’s ever been.
She couldn’t shower, boil a kettle, send a text message, or drive a car.
She wouldn’t leave the house, or even let her loved ones touch her.
It was a complete transformation from the bubbly, outgoing woman everyone knew, who “lived to socialise”.
Eventually, she would receive a diagnosis of acute depression with psychosis.
In that moment, everything felt hopeless.
That was, until she was mandated to receive a little-known, even stigmatised treatment – without which, she says she wouldn’t be here today.
“It was a therapy that saved my life,” Ms Campbell said.
“It got me out of the deepest black hole that I’ve ever experienced in my 65 years.”
Ms Campbell said, while her symptoms developed gradually, she first noticed something was off on May 15 this year.
“I went to meet a friend for lunch, and I was feeling really wobbly, I didn’t feel I was in total control of the vehicle,” she said.
She remembers that as the day “everything shut down”.
“Depression with psychosis means you are consumed by very bad thoughts about what’s going to happen to you, you’re consumed with negativity,” Ms Campbell said.
“Part of my diagnosis was nihilistic tendencies, which means having delusions of extreme negativity, and even so far as to imagine death.”
Ms Campbell shut herself away in the house and stopped showering or cooking.
A local marriage celebrant, she gave up all her bookings overnight – but couldn’t even bring herself to call clients to explain why.
She became consumed with fear she was somehow infectious, and wouldn’t let her son near her in case she passed something on to his two children.
“He realised that something psychotic was occurring, so he telephoned the ambulance,” she said.
Over the space of four months, Ms Campbell presented to emergency four times.
On her last presentation, she was admitted to the mental health ward at Alice Springs Hospital.
It was there her psychiatric team decided she would be mandated to receive electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).
She still remembers feeling terrified.
“All I knew about it was extremely bad publicity,” she said.
“Like 50 years ago, you’d be given a strap of leather to bite on and say your last prayers when you received an electric current to your brain.”
She was transported to Darwin, where she remained for nearly a month to receive the treatment.
Ms Campbell said contrary to her expectations, the procedure was delivered under anaesthetic.
After just three sessions, she began to see a change.
She started to eat and exercise more, and after a total of 10 sessions, enjoyed a holiday with her husband at a tropical resort.
She had arrived in Darwin in a wheelchair, but was able to return to Alice Springs without any mobility aids.
“I do attribute ECT with a complete turnaround in my prospects, and I continue to think of it as a miracle cure,” she said.
ECT involves passing a carefully controlled electric current through the brain while the patient is under anaesthetic, essentially “rewiring it”.
Clinical psychiatrists say the modern-day procedure is safe and effective in relieving severe symptoms of depression and psychosis.
Colleen Loo is a professor of psychiatry at the University of New South Wales and the Black Dog Institute, and an internationally recognised clinical expert in ECT.
She said on a micro level, the procedure caused individual brain cells to regrow and become “plump and healthy” – while on a macro level, it was like “rebooting a computer”.
“We know with disorders like depression, the brain gets stuck in patterns of circuit functioning that are different to when people are in normal health,” she said.
“The fact that ECT can very powerfully reset this we think is very useful.”
However, Professor Loo said there was still a widespread stigma around ECT, which was only being worsened by online misinformation.
“I have to explain to people that these opinions are not actually based in fact,” she said.
Professor Loo said while there was a large range of outcomes with ECT, for the vast majority of patients, brain functioning improved.
“It’s a vicious circle that because it’s stigmatised, people don’t want to say they’ve had it and had a great experience,” she said.
“But because we don’t hear those messages, the stigma continues.”
Months on, Meredith Campbell is opening up about her experience.
She hopes her story will help her community understand how common mental illness is, and that it can affect anyone.
“But also, I want to say why I was absent from public life for so long, with no explanation, just a thunderous silence,” she said.
Looking back, Ms Campbell doesn’t want those dark months to be repeated – but she also feels grateful for what she’s learnt.
“It’s just part of my life story. And in a way, I’ve benefited from it,” she said.
“It’s given me a lot of insights into my capacity, and also the capacity of others around me, especially my family and dear friends who stepped in to help.
“I think the future is going to look rosy and bright.”
