Ted Scheinman, currently 41 and a senior editor at Smithsonian magazine, has published a memoir titled Jolt: My Electric Journey Out of Darkness that details his experience with depression spanning from early childhood through his treatment with electroconvulsive therapy. Scheinman traces the origins of his depression to a specific incident at age three at a county fair, and describes how the condition persisted and intensified throughout his life.
By 2020, at age 35, Scheinman’s depression had reached a critical point that he characterizes as darker than any previous period, describing himself as feeling like “the lowest piece of dirt on the Earth.” At this juncture, he made the decision to pursue electroconvulsive therapy, viewing it not as a last resort but as his only viable option for recovery. ECT involves passing an electric current through the brain to trigger a brief seizure, which causes neurons to fire simultaneously and release neurohormones and neurotransmitters such as dopamine.
Scheinman underwent treatment beginning in May 2021 at Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington DC, receiving a total of 25 treatments over five months—11 unilateral and 14 bilateral procedures. He recalls the experience of preparing for treatment, including the application of electrodes and administration of general anesthetic, though he describes the actual seizure itself as leaving no conscious memory. Notably, his friends observed improvements in his condition before he recognized them himself.
Following the completion of his ECT course, Scheinman experienced substantial improvement in his mental health. Approximately 18 months after treatment ended, he reported feeling significantly better than he had anticipated possible, with continued improvement in subsequent years. Currently, five years after completing ECT, he describes feeling more like himself than in years, with most days passing without depressive symptoms, though he maintains that he still identifies as someone with major depressive disorder according to diagnostic criteria. More recently, he married attorney Tara Ganapathy in May.
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