Australian College of Mental Health Nursing 41st International Mental Health Nursing Conference – ‘Mental Health Nurses: shifting culture, leading change’

Within the next 15 years, it has been projected that depres-sion will become one of the leading causes of global deathand disability (WHO 2012). In Australia, more individualssuffer from depression than any other mental healthdisorder. For some types of depression, electroconvulsivetherapy (ECT) is an effective treatment option; however,it remains a controversial procedure that is associated withsignicant adverse effects such as cognitive impairmentand memory loss.Women experience depression across their life spanmore often than men do, and they also receive ECT inhigher numbers. To date, previous research has not highlighted the impact of gender upon the experience of re-ceiving ECT as a treatment for depression. The experiencesof women and how they make decisions with regard to theirmental health care has been given insufcient attention.This in turn has created a situation where little is knownabout the clinical practice of ECT and informed decision-making, especially with regard to social, economic, cultural,political, and medical forces that inuence decision-makingprocesses in those who live with mental illness.Using a feminist methodology and a narrative in-quiry, women’s experiences with depression will behighlighted and the socio-political context of theirdecision-making in regard to ECT will be examined.The implications from the ndings of this researchmay provide a deeper understanding of the possiblecosts for some women seeking help in mental healthsystems of care and how women actively participate indetermining their own care.A particular focus of the presentation will be on howthe research topic has inuenced the methodological ap-proach taken with the research. As such, the possibilityof the research conversations being a space for womento be heard and perhaps empowered in their contact withcomplex mental health systems and treatments isoutlined. The researchers own professional experienceswith women receiving ECT are also presented as a spacefor interrogation