Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT)

1. Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT(
ECT is shock treatment, easily, most controversial treatment in psychiatry
In which seizures are electrically induced in anesthetized patients for therapeutic effect
Today, ECT is most often used as a treatment for severe major depression which has not
responded to other treatment, and is also used in the treatment of mania, catatonia, schizophrenia
and other disorders
It first gained widespread use as a form of treatment in the 1940s and 50s; today, an estimated 1
million people worldwide receive ECT every year,usually in a course of 6-12 treatments
administered 2 or 3 times a week
Electroconvulsive therapy can differ in its application in three ways; electrode placement, length
of time that the stimulus is given, and the property of the stimulus. The variance of these three
forms of application have significant differences in both adverse side effects and positive outcomes.
ECT has been shown clinically to be the most effective treatment for severe depression, and to
result in improved quality of life in both short- and long-term
After treatment, drug therapy can be continued, and some patients receive continuation/
maintenance ECT
Side-effects include confusion and memory loss for events around the time period of treatment. It is
widely accepted that ECT does not cause brain damage
Certain types of ECT have been shown to cause persistent memory loss, whereas confusion
usually clears within hours of treatment. Informed consent is a standard of modern
electroconvulsive therapy.
Involuntary treatment is uncommon in countries that follow contemporary standards and is typically
only used when the use of ECT is considered potentially life saving

2. Reasons to administered ECT to the patient with major depression
1. Patient is extremely suicidal & it is dangoures to wait weeks for medication to work
2. Patients refuses to eat & severely malnourished waiting medication to work may
dangerous
3. Patients has psychotic depression
4. Patient has medical probems thayt make medications risky
5. Patient with major depression has no response to at least 4 weeks to
antidepressants