This is an ABC podcast.

Karen Wells' childhood was marked by trauma,

and her teenage years weren't much better.

By the time she hit her mid-20s, she was homeless, struggling with drugs and alcohol,

and dealing with quite severe mental health issues.

I had a lot of delusions about being stalked, being listened to, being recorded,

being attacked in the street, being raped, being murdered, you know, really, really frightening stuff.

It was just absolute torture.

And my brain, I couldn't connect with people.

I could only hear the voices in my head.

Karen was also severely depressed.

I was suicidal many times.

I couldn't stand being in the world. It was really a horrible place at that time.

Her doctors prescribed a number of medications, but nothing worked.

It got to a point where, you know, clinicians would call it treatment resistant.

After several stints in hospital, her psychiatrist suggested something different,

electroconvulsive therapy or ECT.

It's a treatment that delivers small electrical pulses to the brain to induce a seizure.

It's surrounded in controversy, but it's also highly effective in treating certain psychiatric disorders

like severe depression and psychosis. For Karen, it was the only thing that

finally helped. I was really, really desperate. And like many people, ECT was a last resort.

Even after a few treatments with ECT that very first time, I felt like things were turning around and I got some quiet

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