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Nancy
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Electroconvulsive
Therapy: A Guide
(below is the first excerpt from the guide)
What is electroconvulsive therapy?
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a treatment used by doctors to help patients with depression. It is also used for other psychiatric disorders such as mania, schizophrenia, and catatonia. Electroconvulsive therapy has also been referred to by names such as electric stimulation, electroseizure, electroshock therapy (EST), and shock therapy.
With electroconvulsive therapy, the patient is put to sleep with a medication and then a drug that completely relaxes muscles is administered. An electrical stimulation of the brain induces a modified seizure of short duration. The seizure is similar to an epileptic seizure, but the bodily jerking seen during an epileptic seizure does not occur. This modified seizure, which is not inherently harmful, relieves the symptoms of depression.
Convulsive therapy was first used in 1934 to treat psychiatric disorders, and "electro"-convulsive therapy was developed in 1938 in Italy. From that time to the present, the technique has been refined to maximize effectiveness and minimize side effects. ECT has been found to be a very effective and safe treatment for certain types of depression. In 1993, an editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine referred to ECT as "a modern medical procedure." An editorial in March, 2001 in the Journal of the American Medical Association stated: "The results of ECT in treating severe depression are among the most positive treatment effects in all of medicine.... For the sake of the many patients with major depression and their families, it is time to bring ECT out of the shadows."
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