Does the memory impairment acutely associated with ECT persist over time?
ECT causes three types of memory impairment: an acute-confusional state, anterograde amnesia, and retrograde amnesia. The acute-confusional state is characterized by patient confusion due to the seizure and general anesthesia. That impairment typically lasts 20–30 minutes and subsides by the time patients leave the hospital. Patients are brought to a recovery room in order to wake up in an unstimulating environment because of this impairment. Anterograde amnesia is the disruption of memory function during the course of ECT treatment. If, for example, patients are receiving ECT three times a week for 3 weeks of treatment, they will have difficulty remembering and recording memories during that time. Anterograde amnesia dissipates over approximately 1–2 weeks after the end of the ECT course with memory functioning returning to normal. For that reason, patients cannot drive for approximately 1 week after their course of ECT, and certainly not during ECT treatment. Retrograde amnesia is th
