Electroconvulsive Therapy and Treatment-Resistant Depression: A Trauma Surgeon’s Mental Health Journey

What happens when a doctor becomes the patient — and faces treatment-resistant depression?

In this powerful episode, trauma surgeon Dr. Michael Weinstein shares his deeply personal battle with depression that no medication or therapy seemed to touch. Diagnosed with treatment-resistant depression, Michael reached the point of hospitalization and was recommended electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) — a treatment that frightened him but ultimately helped save his life.

He speaks candidly about:

• Feeling worthless and convinced his family would be better off without him
• The stigma and fear of admitting himself to a psychiatric hospital
• What ECT was like and why it’s still misunderstood
• Why hearing “you have treatment-resistant depression” can feel hopeless — but doesn’t mean recovery is impossible

Michael’s story is a rare, honest look inside the mind of a physician who nearly lost everything to depression but found his way back. His message: you are not alone, and recovery is always possible.

Article link: https://medschool.ucsd.edu/som/hear/resources/Documents/Out_of_the_Straitjacket_NEJM_Perspective.pdf

Link to YouTube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qBobGOF0fs&t=5s

Primary Topics Covered

• What treatment-resistant depression really means
• A doctor’s personal account of suicidal thoughts and hopelessness
• Why stigma in medicine prevents doctors from seeking help
• Hospitalization and the fear of losing a medical career
• Firsthand experience with ECT (electroconvulsive therapy)
• Learning empathy by becoming a patient
• Why stories help fight stigma in the medical field
• Finding joy and recovery after severe depression

Timestamps:

00:00 Intro — continuing the “Doctors and Depression” conversation
 01:29 Michael Weinstein’s family history of depression
 02:22 When depression became overwhelming and suicidal thoughts began
 03:14 Feeling worthless and convinced his family was better off without him
 05:13 The importance of hearing real stories of depression
 06:25 What “treatment-resistant depression” means for patients
 08:16 Voluntarily entering a psychiatric hospital as a doctor
 08:45 Facing the recommendation of ECT (electroconvulsive therapy)
 09:31 Resistance, restraints, and the reality of psychiatric hospitalization
 10:36 Lessons learned from being a patient, not just a doctor
 11:43 Why storytelling breaks stigma and builds connection
 12:23 Michael’s recovery and reflections on resilience
 13:40 Why doctors need to remember they’re human, too
 16:00 Closing thoughts: every human is human, and healing is possible

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