{
  "id": 18948381,
  "title": "‘I was in a darker place than I’d ever been. ECT was my only hope’: how Ted Scheinman finally broke through his depression",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/08/i-was-in-a-darker-place-than-id-ever-been-ect-was-my-only-hope-how",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-11-08T14:00:42.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Guardian Health",
    "slug": "guardian-health",
    "url": "https://www.theguardian.com/society/2026/nov/08/ect-electroconvulsive-therapy-how-ted-scheinman-broke-through-depression"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Ted Scheinman, now 41, penned a memoir detailing his lifelong struggle with depression, titled \"Jolt: My Electric Journey Out of Darkness\". The author recounts his early life, including a traumatic event at age three when he electrocuted a Batman toy, which he believed would lead to his death. By 35, Scheinman felt he was \"the lowest piece of dirt on the Earth\". Despite therapy and medication failing, he ultimately turned to electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). Scheinman describes ECT as \"not so much a last resort ... as my only hope\". During the treatment, electrodes are attached to the patient's head and an electric current passes through the brain, triggering a brief seizure that alters levels of neurohormones and neurotransmitters. Scheinman's mother, a literature professor, encouraged him to document his experiences, believing that finding meaning in his struggles would provide him with agency over his illness.",
  "summary": "Troubled from the age of three, by 35 the American journalist viewed himself as ‘the lowest piece of dirt on the Earth’ – and neither therapy nor drugs seemed to help. But there was one thing he hadn’t tried … Ted Scheinman can date the origin of his depression with laser accuracy. It was the day he went to the fair, aged three, and returned to his home in upstate New York clutching a Batman toy…",
  "key_points": [
    "Ted Scheinman wrote memoir 'Jolt' about lifelong depression.",
    "ECT described as 'only hope' after therapy and medication failed.",
    "Mother encouraged documenting experiences for agency over illness."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}