Kitty
Kitty
The support I have received has been real
Kitty began to experience significant depression in her early forties. Following her husband Michael’s defeat in the 1988 U.S. presidential election, she received inpatient treatment for alcohol use disorder and continued to struggle.
Depression was brutal. The medications they gave me back then were not helpful.
In fact, the pills were making things worse. I feel very strongly that what works for one person doesn’t necessarily work for somebody else.
After 17 years of receiving therapy and medication that were ineffective for her, a provider urged Kitty to see Dr. Charles Welch for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) at Massachusetts General Hospital. Her first ECT treatment ended her depression.
After the very first treatment, I felt better when I woke up and progressively better as the day wore on.
Kitty would continue to cycle into depression every seven or eight months and would be treated with ECT successfully. About 15 years ago, she began ECT maintenance approximately every six weeks and has remained on a maintenance program.
“I think the important thing is finding the right doctor who is going to treat you and that you have every confidence in that person.”
When Dr. Welch moved from Massachusetts General Hospital to McLean Hospital, Kitty went with him and received ECT at McLean with him until he retired. She now receives care from Dr. Stephen Seiner.
I think each one of us is different in terms of the way our bodies respond to ECT.
My experience has been very positive. And part of that has been my doctors.
Dr. Welch is an extraordinarily gifted physician. Dr. Seiner is very special and has a great way about him.
In 2018, Kitty appeared on “60 Minutes” with Anderson Cooper to talk about her experience with ECT. She allowed the show to film her treatment.
The episode shows Kitty being sedated and having electricity administered to her brain for a few seconds. She lies still, except for the slight tremble of her feet. The induced seizure lasts about one minute. When Cooper meets with Kitty two months later to follow up with her, she tells him, smiling, “I’m fine. I’ve been feeling very well.”
After the show aired, Kitty received an outpouring of phone calls and emails of support.
She often talks to people who are considering ECT when other treatments haven’t worked.
I think the important thing is finding the right doctor who is going to treat you and that you have every confidence in that person.
I think it’s terribly important that you have an opportunity to meet with your doctor before you have treatment.
Kitty and Michael lead a support group in their home for people who experience depression and receive ECT. She is also part of a support group for alcohol use disorder.
She says that interacting with others who have the same struggles isn’t just helpful to them but also helpful for her.
It’s a common problem: depression and drinking with it in order to find some kind of solution.
The support I have received has been real. I have gotten enormous support from people I didn’t know and from those who I have been able to get to know, in special ways.
It has helped me as a person who is in recovery. People will often say, ‘Well, as a politician’s wife, isn’t it difficult to be out in the open about all of this?’
It’s not at all. It’s prepared me to be able to handle this kind of thing—without any stigma and trouble.
