[Unconsciousness and clouded awareness]

Stupor and coma are clinical states in which patients have impaired responsiveness or are unresponsive to external stimulation and are either difficult to arouse or are unarousable. The term stupor refer to states between alertness and coma. An alteration in arousal represents an acute life-threatening emergency, requiring prompt intervention for preservation of life and brain function.

[Psychiatric emergencies]

Psychiatric emergencies present a frequent and interdisciplinary challenge. Clinical diagnosis and management are complicated by the acuity, and the patient's compliance is often limited by the illness. Psychiatric emergencies include states of acute agitation, suicidality, delirium, stupor, and drug-induced emergencies. Sometimes interventions such as conversational contact, responding empathically to patients, or "talking down" are sufficient. If pharmacotherapy is necessary, benzodiazepines and antipsychotic drugs are the primary agents of choice.

Modified electroconvulsive therapy for recurrent major depressive disorder in a meningioma patient: a case report of clinical experience

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is primarily indicated for mood disorders and schizophrenia. Clinicians may encounter cases in which ECT is administered to patients with various kinds of complications. However, to our knowledge, no detailed medical guideline is available about the indications for ECT in psychiatric illness complicated with a concomitant brain tumor, which is one of the most likely physical complications that can directly affect ECT. We report a case in which 3 courses of modified ECT (m-ECT) were successfully administered without any neurological deterioration to a patient, who was frequently hospitalized for recurrent depressive disorder with stupor. We did not undertake any additional measures for reducing adverse events derived from the meningioma during m-ECT. In this report, we discuss the relation between brain tumor and depression.