To have your health care needs met moving forward, it is important that your primary care physician knows the extent of the damages you sustained during your ECT sessions. To assist you with this conversation, you can use the letter below to open the dialogue. Have it made part of your permanent chart.
Click here for printable PDF copy of letter.
To my primary care physician:
This letter is to address the health issues I face following the procedure known as ECT or electroshock. These neuro/cognitive damages are secondary to the electrical mechanism of injury/trauma, inducing acquired traumatic brain injuries with every procedure. This is appreciated in the literature of emergency trauma medicine, neurology, and even psychiatry.
As a survivor of repeated electrical traumas and the brain injuries that result, I request the following testing to assess the extent of damages. I would like copies of all results please, and all exams to be placed on CD at time of exam.
- Complete neurological evaluation, preferably in a traumatic brain injury program.
- Neuro/cognitive testing by a qualified and certified psychologist familiar with traumatic brain injuries.
- Sleep study (as sleep is greatly affected following electroshock).
- EEG standard and Quantitative (QEEG).
- Evoked Potentials (EP) testing.
- MRI with and without contrast.
- Functional MRI.
- SPECT test.
- Any other testing appropriate for TBI.
In addition to obvious traumatic brain injuries that result from this procedure, electrical trauma impacts all bodily systems. I want this taken into account as symptoms may develop such as cardiac issues etc., and I request these be addressed with appropriate testing for diagnosis.
This is to be addressed from a neurological/trauma standpoint and not psychiatric.
Thank you for your assistance.
Sincerely,