Sheila
Age at interview: 64
Brief Outline: Sheila was always against ECT because she used to help out in an ECT suite 20 years ago. However, when her husband experienced problems she found out more information about ECT and thought it may help him. Now she doesn’t feel it has helped him very much but has seen it benefit others.
Background: Sheila is a retired nursery nurse, has two children, and cares for her husband who suffers with anxiety and depression. She describes herself White British.
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Sheila’s husband always experienced bouts of depression and anxiety. Over the years he has had to have time off from work when he felt unwell. Sheila says that it used to be a family joke that her husband had OCD type tendencies but over the last three or four years he has been diagnosed with OCD and Sheila feels he has now become ‘quite poorly’. Now she says that the anxiety he experiences never goes away and the thoughts and fears he has (about killing her and other family members) cause him a great deal of distress.
About eight years ago Sheila’s husband had to give up work on a permanent basis because of depression and anxiety. Sheila also finished full time work so that she could be with him. Her husband has taken a total of six overdoses and these experiences have affected their whole family. She says each day she doesn’t quite know what will happen. Her husband has had some psychological therapy but it wasn’t working as well as they’d hoped. After his first overdose he was admitted to a psychiatric. He came home but took other overdoses and has spent time in other wards. Sheila thought that the medication he was prescribed didn’t help him as he still had pervasive thoughts.
Sheila’s feelings about ECT go back to 20 years when she worked in a mental health unit. She felt she wouldn’t like for any of her family members to have ECT but was later offered ECT as a treatment for her husband. She felt like she wanted to investigate the treatment thoroughly and looked up lots of information about the treatment. She was taken around the ECT suite which she thought was helpful and spent some time with the staff nurse to talk her through the process. She had discussed it for about 2 weeks and decided to go for it because she felt that her husband could benefit from it after seeing how other people had progressed and how things had changed compared to the old treatment.
After the first ECT treatment Sheila’s husband (aged 65) was in his bed and felt ‘really strange’. However, the next day he did feel a lot better so Sheila felt it was the initial treatment he reacted to. At first the ECT didn’t seem to have much effect on him. He felt strange and funny and she was told that he wasn’t having proper seizures after five treatments so they didn’t offered him any more sessions. She was told that this may be due to the anti-seizure medication he was taking for a stroke and a previous overdose. The consultant reviewed his case and he had six more session where he had “proper seizures”. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to have the treatments but he did opt for them in the end. Sheila feels that unfortunately, although it did help him to start with, ECT didn’t help him in the long run. She found that doctors followed up with her husband at three months and then six months, to see how he was feeling and they did a series of mini tests about his cognitive abilities. They asked him about how he was feeling and if he felt the ECT had helped him.
Once a month Sheila goes to a carer’s support group. She says that she has made a lot of friends through her husband’s illness. She likes the carers’ cafe where treatments are offered. She feels like she has a good support network as well. She has also asked them to attend meeting with health professionals.
She finds that her husband’s mental health has had quite a knock on effect on her well-being and she herself has been taking anti-depressants. Now she just wants him to be able to spend time with the family or as a couple and be able to enjoy it.
About eight years ago Sheila’s husband had to give up work on a permanent basis because of depression and anxiety. Sheila also finished full time work so that she could be with him. Her husband has taken a total of six overdoses and these experiences have affected their whole family. She says each day she doesn’t quite know what will happen. Her husband has had some psychological therapy but it wasn’t working as well as they’d hoped. After his first overdose he was admitted to a psychiatric. He came home but took other overdoses and has spent time in other wards. Sheila thought that the medication he was prescribed didn’t help him as he still had pervasive thoughts.
Sheila’s feelings about ECT go back to 20 years when she worked in a mental health unit. She felt she wouldn’t like for any of her family members to have ECT but was later offered ECT as a treatment for her husband. She felt like she wanted to investigate the treatment thoroughly and looked up lots of information about the treatment. She was taken around the ECT suite which she thought was helpful and spent some time with the staff nurse to talk her through the process. She had discussed it for about 2 weeks and decided to go for it because she felt that her husband could benefit from it after seeing how other people had progressed and how things had changed compared to the old treatment.
After the first ECT treatment Sheila’s husband (aged 65) was in his bed and felt ‘really strange’. However, the next day he did feel a lot better so Sheila felt it was the initial treatment he reacted to. At first the ECT didn’t seem to have much effect on him. He felt strange and funny and she was told that he wasn’t having proper seizures after five treatments so they didn’t offered him any more sessions. She was told that this may be due to the anti-seizure medication he was taking for a stroke and a previous overdose. The consultant reviewed his case and he had six more session where he had “proper seizures”. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted to have the treatments but he did opt for them in the end. Sheila feels that unfortunately, although it did help him to start with, ECT didn’t help him in the long run. She found that doctors followed up with her husband at three months and then six months, to see how he was feeling and they did a series of mini tests about his cognitive abilities. They asked him about how he was feeling and if he felt the ECT had helped him.
Once a month Sheila goes to a carer’s support group. She says that she has made a lot of friends through her husband’s illness. She likes the carers’ cafe where treatments are offered. She feels like she has a good support network as well. She has also asked them to attend meeting with health professionals.
She finds that her husband’s mental health has had quite a knock on effect on her well-being and she herself has been taking anti-depressants. Now she just wants him to be able to spend time with the family or as a couple and be able to enjoy it.
Sheila’s husband had anxiety and depression “on and off” over the years. They used to laugh off his obsessive compulsive disorder but over the last 3-4 years it has become much worse.
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Sheila’s husband had anxiety and depression “on and off” over the years. They used to laugh off his obsessive compulsive disorder but over the last 3-4 years it has become much worse.
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He’s become very, very anxious about things. He says it never goes away. Even if he feels better, you know, if he’s having a better day. But yes it’s probably over about the last four years that he’s been as bad as he is at the moment, yes.
For years Sheila thought her husband was just ‘anxious’ but later he developed severe obsessive compulsive disorder. He has intrusive thoughts about killing himself to stop himself from killing others.
For years Sheila thought her husband was just ‘anxious’ but later he developed severe obsessive compulsive disorder. He has intrusive thoughts about killing himself to stop himself from killing others.
He’s become very, very anxious about things. He says it never goes away. Even if he feels better, you know, if he’s having a better day. But yes it’s probably over about the last four years that he’s been as bad as he is at the moment, yes.
The referral that’s been made recently for him to see a professor who specialises in OCD which they have said that my husband’s got OCD. As in, it’s not OCD as in hand washing and things like that. The way they described it to me, is because he has very intrusive thoughts about killing me or our grandchildren, and he knows that he would never do that that they are thoughts, but they are so intrusive that they are there. That if he kills himself he then won’t be in this turmoil that he’s in and we will all be safe. So this is where they’ve got the OCD from. Because I always thought it was always being tidy, putting things in place and everything. I couldn’t see to start with where they got the OCD from, but that’s, that’s where they get it from, because as I say rather than him killing me with a knife or our grandchildren he wants to kill himself.
Sheila’s husband is allowed to leave the psychiatric unit during the day. She took him fishing, which he used to love, and although he found it difficult, she tried to encourage him.
Sheila’s husband is allowed to leave the psychiatric unit during the day. She took him fishing, which he used to love, and although he found it difficult, she tried to encourage him.
Sheila talked about the effect her husband’s mental distress and overdoses had had on their family. She gave up full time work in order to support him.
Sheila talked about the effect her husband’s mental distress and overdoses had had on their family. She gave up full time work in order to support him.
Sheila liked a carers’ café where she could get beauty treatments. She went to a carers group and people from the group have come with her to meetings with healthcare professionals.
Sheila liked a carers’ café where she could get beauty treatments. She went to a carers group and people from the group have come with her to meetings with healthcare professionals.
Sheila had some knowledge about ECT from when she worked in a mental health unit twenty years ago, but wanted some up-to-date information. Getting more information gave her a “bigger understanding” of ECT.
Sheila had some knowledge about ECT from when she worked in a mental health unit twenty years ago, but wanted some up-to-date information. Getting more information gave her a “bigger understanding” of ECT.
Just really a bit more up to date, what it’s like now, rather than, you know, years ago. And obviously I feel now I’ve got more of an understanding of mental health than I’ve had in the past, because I try and go to meetings and things or any help that I can get. I try and go to them. But yes, I mean they obviously explain that it’s not as bad as it used to be and that, you know, the leaflets were really sort of just explaining exactly what goes on, and that you’ll be put to sleep and you know, you’ll be woken up not long afterwards, because I mean like the patients don’t know how long, you think oh ECT, is that going to take an hour or, but it is a very, very short, you know, short time that you know, you’re back in the recovery room and things like that. Yes, it just sort of really helped me understand it even more, because when I was actually working with it I didn’t have, well we didn’t have the internet then. So you know, I didn’t really know much about it. So it gave me a bigger understanding of what it’s like.
Sheila worked in an ECT suite twenty years ago and didn’t want any of her relatives to have it. When her husband was offered ECT recently she thought treatment might have improved and read up about it.
Sheila worked in an ECT suite twenty years ago and didn’t want any of her relatives to have it. When her husband was offered ECT recently she thought treatment might have improved and read up about it.
20 years down the line my husband has been offered ECT and I thought back to my words. Oh is this really what we want? Obviously things have changed over the 20 years but it’s still the same initial ECT. So I spoke to the staff who recommended it, I spoke to the consultant who recommended that my husband had ECT.
I was given literature to read up about it. I also looked on the internet at things, so I sort of really thought I needed to go into it in depth.
Sheila’s friends reacted with “shock and horror” when they heard her husband was going to have ECT. She reassured them it isn’t “like in the films”.
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Sheila’s friends reacted with “shock and horror” when they heard her husband was going to have ECT. She reassured them it isn’t “like in the films”.
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Sheila didn’t want to leave her husband in hospital with “very poorly people”. Unlike when Sheila worked in psychiatric units over twenty years ago, there was nothing for him to do as he recovered.
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Sheila didn’t want to leave her husband in hospital with “very poorly people”. Unlike when Sheila worked in psychiatric units over twenty years ago, there was nothing for him to do as he recovered.
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I don’t know really. I’m trying to think back to I was, oh my goodness, obviously there’s some very poorly people there, do I really, really have to leave him in a place like this, when I didn’t feel that he was that poorly. They, when, the first unit he went to in [name of town] they said, “Oh he’s such a lovely man. He you know, he’s great.” And because by the time he sort of left there and went to, in fact at one stage they were just going to discharge him straight away and then they decided that he really need to go to a local, more of a local unit and I don’t know. Some of the people that were in there I really didn’t want him to be with but I knew that he needed the help and with encouragement from the staff and doctors there, he did, he did come home, but yes, you know, and over the years, obviously I’ve got to know the units a lot more and they’ve got to know me.
What’s been your relationship like with the staff at these different units?
Okay, yes, there are quite a few concerns that I’ve had about the units. A lot of it is lack of OT. The it’s, on the notice board there’s a great big timetable, but unfortunately it doesn’t happen, so I’ve sort of taken this further with managers and things, because not just for my husband but for the other patients that are in there as well, because as one man explained to me, “When I came in here a couple of weeks ago, nothing bothered me. I felt so ill that I just wanted to lay on my bed. I just didn’t want to be with people.” But he was starting to get better and feel better, but there wasn’t anything for him to do, and he was frustrated and bored, and I’ve actually found, that especially the unit that my husband’s been in for the last fourteen months there’s a lot of bored people pacing about for the lack of things to do there. So I have, you know, I don’t find it at the moment, but they’ve moved to new premises now, so I’m hoping things will change [small laugh]. But yes, I do think there needs to be more to stimulate them. I mean I’m going back to 20 odd years ago, when I worked at one of the units, there was a lovely woodwork room and there seemed to be more for the patients to do then there is now. Whereas things should have moved on more rather than gone backwards and I’ve sort of expressed my views about it.