Kitty Dukakis

For over 20 years, Kitty Dukakis struggled with debilitating depression that was not controlled for long by any medication or by rehabilitation. It was coupled with long-term drug (amphetamine diet pills) and alcohol addictions, which masked her underlying depressive disorder. It was not until 2001, when she first received electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) to the brain, that she was able to reclaim her life. Ms. Dukakis is a social worker by training and a long-time advocate for refugees and the homeless. She is the wife of former Massachusetts governor and 1988 Democratic presidential nominee, Michael Dukakis. She recently co-authored a book on ECT (Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy) with Larry Tye, an award-winning former Boston Globe medical and health reporter. Shock details her personal experiences and includes Tye's investigation into the history and science behind ECT, which fell into disfavor in the 1960s, and its comeback as a viable therapeutic option. At the 2007 NAMI convention, Mrs. Dukakis was the recipient of The Lionel Aldridge Award.

RC: Your book, Shock, was released last fall. What's happened since then?

KD: It's been an extraordinary eight or nine months. Two days ago, I celebrated two anniversaries with my husband. One was our 45th wedding anniversary and the other was six years from my first ECT treatment. And it was a special day of remembering for me of what life was like before I had this treatment. It was a pretty dismal life that cycled with depression every nine or ten months. I am so positive about this treatment and the way it has treated me. And the medical care I've had with an extraordinary physician. I am just full of gratitude. The one negative is that there are memory issues, but I don't focus on that. It happens. Most of it is short lived but those that are permanent losses, I accept and it's a tradeoff.

RC: Are you saying that you get an 80% improvement with respect to depression if you're willing to give up 20% of your short term memory?

KD: I think it's probably closer to 90% or 95% gain and a 5% loss. That's the difference in my life today.

RC: I know that in my experience, it is so important to get the right doctor. And that they have the right attitude because you are committing yourself to their care.

KD: Absolutely. That's why I tell people, normally I would say don't shop around, it isn't good for medical treatment. In the case of a mental illness, especially with ECT, it is so important that patients have a very strong, positive relationship with the physician and if that attitude isn't there, that feeling of closeness isn't there, then they ought to go and find another doctor.

RC: You must have had quite an ordeal if you tried many, many medications before ECT worked for you.

KD: I've counted the number of antidepressants. I had over 12 different ones over a 17 year period... It's horribly frustrating to continue to try new medications, none of which worked for very long and all of which have unpleasant side effects. And nobody during that decade and a half period ever suggested ECT therapy.