Psychosocial Stress and Attitude toward Electroconvulsive Therapy among Family Caregivers of Mentally Ill Patients in Almamoura Hospital

Abstract

ECT is a widely practiced treatment that is extremely effective for certain severe or resistant psychiatric conditions and has a mortality rate comparable to or lower than universally accepted antidepressant medication. Despite evidence that electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is effective and safe, and leads to shorter and less costly inpatient treatment, it is rarely used as the first line of treatment and is generally reserved for older and resistant cases of depression and other psychiatric disorders. Certain factors such as social stigma, inadequate undergraduate training, doubts about its efficacy and safety, ambivalence among psychiatrists and doubts about its being a cost-effective alternative to antidepressant treatment, might have limited the use of ECT in the management of depression. Aim of the study This study aims to assess the psychological distress, knowledge and attitude toward electroconvulsive therapy among family caregivers of mentally ill patients in Almamoura hospital.

Research Question - What are the psychological stress, knowledge and attitude toward electroconvulsive therapy among family caregivers of mentally ill patients in Al-Mamoura hospital? Subjects and Methods The study portrayed under the four main designs as follows:- I- Technical design The technical design included research design, setting, subjects and tools for data collection.