Ted Scheinman shares his electroconvulsive therapy journey in new memoir

A childhood incident sparked lifelong struggle

Ted Scheinman dates the start of his depression to age three when water fell on a Batman toy he won at a fair. The young boy in upstate New York believed the wet boot meant he would die immediately. Now forty-one, the senior editor at Smithsonian magazine wrote a memoir about living with this condition for decades. He sought treatment in 2020 after reaching a point where he felt like the lowest piece of dirt on Earth.

Treatment details and family support

On the morning of May 12, 2021, Scheinman received his initial electroconvulsive therapy treatment within the psychiatric ward at Sibley Memorial Hospital located in Washington DC. An electric current passed through his brain to trigger a brief seizure that releases neurohormones and neurotransmitters like dopamine. His mother, an English professor who died last year, encouraged him to write down his experiences before admission. She told him the situation provided great material for understanding meaning and power over illness.

Memoir explores taboo medical history

The book Jolt describes how artistic depictions often show horror while Scheinman worried only that the treatment would not help him. His mother knew about ECT from friends and corresponded with Alan Bennett regarding its effects on his own mother. Scheinman views the memoir as a travelogue offering a view from the other side of the tunnel for many patients.