electroconvulsive therapy

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{{Further|History of electroconvulsive therapy in the United Kingdom|History of electroconvulsive therapy in the United States}}

As early as the 16th century, agents to induce seizures were used to treat psychiatric conditions. In 1785, the therapeutic use of seizure induction was documented in the London Medical and Surgical Journal.{{Cite web |title=A History of Mental Institutions in the United States |url=http://www.tiki-toki.com/timeline/entry/37146/A-History-of-Mental-Institutions-in-the-United-States/#vars!panel=403723! |access-date=2025-04-10 |website=www.tiki-toki.com}} As to its earliest antecedents one doctor claims 1744 as the dawn of electricity's therapeutic use, as documented in the first issue of Electricity and Medicine. Treatment and cure of hysterical blindness was documented eleven years later. Benjamin Franklin wrote that an electrostatic machine cured "a woman of hysterical fits." By 1801, James Lind{{Cite web|title=Lind, James (1736–1812) on JSTOR|url=https://plants.jstor.org/stable/10.5555/al.ap.person.bm000033179|access-date=2021-05-08|website=plants.jstor.org|doi=}} as well as Giovanni Aldini had used galvanism to treat patients with various mental disorders.{{cite journal | vauthors = Parent A | title = Giovanni Aldini: from animal electricity to human brain stimulation | journal = The Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences. Le Journal Canadien des Sciences Neurologiques | volume = 31 | issue = 4 | pages = 576–584 | date = November 2004 | pmid = 15595271 | doi = 10.1017/s0317167100003851 | doi-access = free }} G.B.C. Duchenne, the mid-19th century "Father of Electrotherapy", said its use was integral to a neurological practice.{{cite journal |title=An Historical Review of Electro Convulsive Therapy | vauthors = Wright BA |url= http://jdc.jefferson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1256&context=jeffjpsychiatry |journal=Jefferson Journal of Psychiatry |pages=66–74}}

In the second half of the 19th century, such efforts were frequent enough in British asylums as to make it notable.{{cite journal | vauthors = Beveridge AW, Renvoize EB | title = Electricity: a history of its use in the treatment of mental illness in Britain during the second half of the 19th century | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 153 | issue = 2 | pages = 157–162 | date = August 1988 | pmid = 3076490 | doi = 10.1192/bjp.153.2.157 | url = http://www.breggin.com/ECT/ElctyHistoryUseTrtmntBritain.pdf | access-date = 28 December 2014 | url-status = dead | s2cid = 31015334 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150923194358/http://www.breggin.com/ECT/ElctyHistoryUseTrtmntBritain.pdf | archive-date = 23 September 2015 }}

Convulsive therapy was introduced in 1934 by Hungarian neuropsychiatrist Ladislas J. Meduna who, believing mistakenly that schizophrenia and epilepsy were antagonistic disorders, induced seizures first with camphor and then metrazol (cardiazol).{{cite journal | vauthors = Berrios GE | title = The scientific origins of electroconvulsive therapy: a conceptual history | journal = History of Psychiatry | volume = 8 | issue = 29 pt 1 | pages = 105–119 | date = March 1997 | pmid = 11619203 | doi = 10.1177/0957154X9700802908 | s2cid = 12121233 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Fink M | title = Meduna and the origins of convulsive therapy | journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 141 | issue = 9 | pages = 1034–1041 | date = September 1984 | pmid = 6147103 | doi = 10.1176/ajp.141.9.1034 }} Meduna is thought to be the father of convulsive therapy.{{cite journal | vauthors = Bolwig TG | title = How does electroconvulsive therapy work? Theories on its mechanism | journal = Canadian Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 56 | issue = 1 | pages = 13–18 | date = January 2011 | pmid = 21324238 | doi = 10.1177/070674371105600104 | doi-access = free }}

In 1937, the first international meeting on schizophrenia and convulsive therapy was held in Switzerland by the Swiss psychiatrist Max Müller.Bangen, Hans: Geschichte der medikamentösen Therapie der Schizophrenie. Berlin, 1992, {{ISBN|3927408824}} The proceedings were published in the American Journal of Psychiatry and, within three years, cardiazol convulsive therapy was being used worldwide.

The ECT procedure was first conducted in 1938 by Italian neuro-psychiatrist Ugo Cerletti{{cite book | vauthors = Rudorfer MV, Henry ME, Sackheim HA | date = 1997 | chapter = Electroconvulsive therapy | veditors = Tasman A, Lieberman JA | title = Psychiatry | pages = 1535–1556 }} and rapidly replaced less safe and effective forms of biological treatments in use at the time. Cerletti, who had been using electric shocks to produce seizures in animal experiments, and his assistant Lucio Bini at Sapienza University of Rome developed the idea of using electricity as a substitute for metrazol in convulsive therapy and, in 1938, experimented for the first time on a person affected by delusions.

It was believed early on that inducing convulsions aided in helping those with severe schizophrenia but later found to be most useful with affective disorders such as depression. Cerletti had noted a shock to the head produced convulsions in dogs. The idea to use electroshock on humans came to Cerletti when he saw how pigs were given an electric shock before being butchered to put them in an anesthetized state.{{cite web| vauthors = Sabbatini R |title=The history of shock therapy in psychiatry|url=http://www.cerebromente.org.br/n04/historia/shock_i.htm|access-date=2013-04-24}} Cerletti and Bini practiced until they felt they had the right parameters needed to have a successful human trial. Once they started trials on patients, they found that after 10–20 treatments the results were significant. Patients had much improved.

A positive side effect to the treatment was retrograde amnesia. It was because of this side effect that patients could not remember the treatments and had no ill feelings toward it.

ECT soon replaced metrazol therapy all over the world because it was cheaper, less frightening and more convenient.Cerletti, U (1956). "Electroshock therapy". In AM Sackler et al. (eds) The Great Physiodynamic Therapies in Psychiatry: an historical appraisal. New York: Hoeber-Harper, 91–120. Cerletti and Bini were nominated for a Nobel Prize but did not receive one. By 1940, the procedure was introduced to both England and the US. In Germany and Austria, it was promoted by Friedrich Meggendorfer. Through the 1940s and 1950s, the use of ECT became widespread. At the time the ECT device was patented and commercialized abroad, the two Italian inventors had competitive tensions that damaged their relationship.{{cite journal | vauthors = Sirgiovanni E, Aruta A |title=From the Madhouse to the Docu-Museum: The Enigma Surrounding the Cerletti-Bini ECT Apparatus Prototype |journal=Nuncius |date=April 23, 2020 |volume=35 |issue=1 |page=141 |doi=10.1163/18253911-03501013|s2cid=218991982 }} In the 1960s, despite a climate of condemnation, the original Cerletti-Bini ECT apparatus prototype was contended by scientific museums between Italy and the US.{{Cite journal |last1=Sirgiovanni |first1=Elisabetta |last2=Aruta |first2=Alessandro |date=2020-09-01 |title=The electroshock triangle: disputes about the ECT apparatus prototype and its display in the 1960s |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0957154X20916147 |journal=History of Psychiatry |language=EN |volume=31 |issue=3 |pages=311–324 |doi=10.1177/0957154X20916147 |pmid=32308035 |issn=0957-154X|url-access=subscription }} The ECT apparatus prototype is now owned and displayed by the Sapienza Museum of the History of Medicine in Rome.

In the early 1940s, in an attempt to reduce the memory disturbance and confusion associated with treatment, two modifications were introduced: the use of unilateral electrode placement and the replacement of sinusoidal current with brief pulse. It took many years for brief-pulse equipment to be widely adopted.Kiloh, LG, Smith, JS, Johnson, GF (1988). Physical Treatments in Psychiatry. Melbourne: Blackwell Scientific Publications, 190–208. {{ISBN|0867931124}}

In the 1940s and early 1950s, ECT was usually given in an "unmodified" form, without muscle relaxants, and the seizure resulted in a full-scale convulsion. A rare but serious complication of unmodified ECT was fracture or dislocation of the long bones. In the 1940s, psychiatrists began to experiment with curare, the muscle-paralysing South American poison, in order to modify the convulsions. The introduction of suxamethonium (succinylcholine), a safer synthetic alternative to curare, in 1951 led to the more widespread use of "modified" ECT. A short-acting anesthetic was usually given in addition to the muscle relaxant in order to spare patients the terrifying feeling of suffocation that can be experienced with muscle relaxants.

The steady growth of antidepressant use along with negative depictions of ECT in the mass media led to a marked decline in the use of ECT during the 1950s to the 1970s. The Surgeon General stated there were problems with electroshock therapy in the initial years before anesthesia was routinely given, and that "these now-antiquated practices contributed to the negative portrayal of ECT in the popular media."

{{Cite news |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9805E1DD1431F935A35753C1A96F958260 |title=Federal Report Praising Electroshock Stirs Uproar | vauthors = Goode E |date=1999-10-06 |access-date=2008-01-01 |newspaper=The New York Times }} The New York Times described the public's negative perception of ECT as being caused mainly by one movie: "For Big Nurse in One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, it was a tool of terror, and, in the public mind, shock therapy has retained the tarnished image given it by Ken Kesey's novel: dangerous, inhumane and overused".{{cite news|url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE0D81F3EF931A3575BC0A966958260|title=The Quiet Comeback of Electroshock Therapy| vauthors = Goleman D |date=1990-08-02|work=The New York Times|page=B5|access-date=2008-01-01}}

In 1976, Dr. Blatchley demonstrated the effectiveness of his constant current, brief pulse device ECT. This device eventually largely replaced earlier devices because of the reduction in cognitive side effects, although as of 2012 some ECT clinics still were using sine-wave devices.{{cite journal | vauthors = Leiknes KA, Jarosh-von Schweder L, Høie B | title = Contemporary use and practice of electroconvulsive therapy worldwide | journal = Brain and Behavior | volume = 2 | issue = 3 | pages = 283–344 | date = May 2012 | pmid = 22741102 | pmc = 3381633 | doi = 10.1002/brb3.37 | doi-access = free }}

The 1970s saw the publication of the first American Psychiatric Association (APA) task force report on electroconvulsive therapy (to be followed by further reports in 1990 and 2001). The report endorsed the use of ECT in the treatment of depression. The decade also saw criticism of ECT.See:

• {{cite journal | vauthors = Friedberg J | title = Shock treatment, brain damage, and memory loss: a neurological perspective | journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 134 | issue = 9 | pages = 1010–1014 | date = September 1977 | pmid = 900284 | doi = 10.1176/ajp.134.9.1010 | publisher = American Psychiatric Association Publishing }}
• {{cite book | vauthors = Breggin PR | title=Electroshock: its brain-disabling effects | publisher=Springer | publication-place=New York | date=1979 | isbn=082612710X | oclc=5029460}} Specifically, critics pointed to shortcomings such as noted side effects, the procedure being used as a form of abuse, and uneven application of ECT. The use of ECT declined until the 1980s, "when use began to increase amid growing awareness of its benefits and cost-effectiveness for treating severe depression". In 1985, the National Institute of Mental Health and National Institutes of Health convened a consensus development conference on ECT and concluded that, while ECT was the most controversial treatment in psychiatry and had significant side-effects, it had been shown to be effective for a narrow range of severe psychiatric disorders.{{cite journal | vauthors = Blaine JD, Clark SM | title = Report of the NIMH-NIH Consensus Development Conference on electroconvulsive therapy--statement of the Consensus Development Panel--statement of the Consensus Development Panel | journal = Psychopharmacology Bulletin | volume = 22 | issue = 2 | pages = 445–454 | year = 1986 | pmid = 3774937 }}

Because of the backlash noted previously, national institutions reviewed past practices and set new standards. In 1978, the American Psychiatric Association released its first task force report in which new standards for consent were introduced and the use of unilateral electrode placement was recommended. The 1985 NIMH Consensus Conference confirmed the therapeutic role of ECT in certain circumstances. The American Psychiatric Association released its second task force report in 1990 where specific details on the delivery, education, and training of ECT were documented. Finally, in 2001 the American Psychiatric Association released its latest task force report. This report emphasizes the importance of informed consent, and the expanded role that the procedure has in modern medicine. By 2017, ECT was routinely covered by insurance companies for providing the "biggest bang for the buck" for otherwise intractable cases of severe mental illness, was receiving favorable media coverage, and was being provided in regional medical centers.{{Cite web |url=http://www.idahostatesman.com/news/business/article133259549.html |title=This mental health treatment isn't barbaric, it 'totally changed my life' | vauthors = Dutton A |date=2017-02-18}}

Though ECT use declined with the advent of modern antidepressants, there has been a resurgence of ECT with new modern technologies and techniques.{{Cite web |date=October 1, 2012 |title=Electroconvulsive therapy: How modern techniques improve patient outcomes |url=https://www.mdedge.com/psychiatry/article/64868/bipolar-disorder/electroconvulsive-therapy-how-modern-techniques-improve |website=mdedge.com}} Modern shock voltage is given for a shorter duration of 0.5 milliseconds where conventional brief pulse is 1.5 milliseconds.{{cite journal | doi = 10.5348/ijcri-2012-07-147-CR-8 | volume=3 | issue = 7 | title=A case of schizophrenia successfully treated by m-ECT using 'long' brief pulse | year=2012 | journal=International Journal of Case Reports and Images | page=30 |vauthors=Hiroaki I, Hirohiko H, Masanari I |doi-access=free | arxiv=1112.2072 }}

In a review from 2022 of neuroimaging studies based on a global data collaboration, ECT was suggested to work via a temporary disruption of neural circuits followed by augmented neuroplasticity and rewiring.{{cite journal | vauthors = Ousdal OT, Brancati GE, Kessler U, Erchinger V, Dale AM, Abbott C, Oltedal L | title = The Neurobiological Effects of Electroconvulsive Therapy Studied Through Magnetic Resonance: What Have We Learned, and Where Do We Go? | journal = Biological Psychiatry | volume = 91 | issue = 6 | pages = 540–549 | date = March 2022 | pmid = 34274106 | pmc = 8630079 | doi = 10.1016/j.biopsych.2021.05.023 }}

ECT is used, where possible, with informed consent{{cite journal | vauthors = Beloucif S | title = Informed consent for special procedures: electroconvulsive therapy and psychosurgery | journal = Current Opinion in Anesthesiology| volume = 26 | issue = 2 | pages = 182–185 | date = April 2013 | pmid = 23385317 | doi = 10.1097/ACO.0b013e32835e7380 | s2cid = 36643014 }} in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, bipolar depression, treatment-resistant catatonia, prolonged or severe mania, and in conditions where "there is a need for rapid, definitive response because of the severity of a psychiatric or medical condition (e.g., when illness is characterized by suicidality, psychosis, stupor, marked psychomotor retardation, depressive delusions or hallucinations, or life-threatening physical exhaustion associated with mania)."{{Cite web |title=WHO RESOURCE BOOK ON MENTAL HEALTH |url=https://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/resource_book_MHLeg.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130313054552/https://www.who.int/mental_health/policy/resource_book_MHLeg.pdf |archive-date=March 13, 2013}} It has also been used to treat autism in adults with an intellectual disability, yet findings from a systematic review found this an unestablished intervention.{{cite journal | vauthors = Benevides TW, Shore SM, Andresen ML, Caplan R, Cook B, Gassner DL, Erves JM, Hazlewood TM, King MC, Morgan L, Murphy LE, Purkis Y, Rankowski B, Rutledge SM, Welch SP, Wittig K | title = Interventions to address health outcomes among autistic adults: A systematic review | journal = Autism | volume = 24 | issue = 6 | pages = 1345–1359 | date = August 2020 | pmid = 32390461 | pmc = 7787674 | doi = 10.1177/1362361320913664 | s2cid = 218586379 | doi-access = free }}

For major depressive disorder, despite a Canadian guideline and some experts arguing for using ECT as a first line treatment,{{cite journal | vauthors = Lipsman N, Sankar T, Downar J, Kennedy SH, Lozano AM, Giacobbe P | title = Neuromodulation for treatment-refractory major depressive disorder | journal = CMAJ | volume = 186 | issue = 1 | pages = 33–39 | date = January 2014 | pmid = 23897945 | pmc = 3883821 | doi = 10.1503/cmaj.121317 }}{{cite book | veditors = Tasman A, Kay J, Lieberman JA, First MB, Riba MB | title=Psychiatry | publisher=John Wiley & Sons, Ltd | publication-place=Chichester, UK | year=2015 | isbn=978-1-118-75337-8 | doi=10.1002/9781118753378 | page=}}{{cite journal | vauthors = Bolwig TG | title = First-line use of ECT | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 21 | issue = 1 | pages = 51 | date = March 2005 | pmid = 15791182 | doi = 10.1097/01.yct.0000158271.45828.76 | publisher = Ovid Technologies (Wolters Kluwer Health) }} ECT is generally used only when one or other treatments have failed, or in emergencies, such as imminent suicide.{{cite journal | vauthors = Fitzgerald PB | title = Non-pharmacological biological treatment approaches to difficult-to-treat depression | journal = The Medical Journal of Australia | volume = 199 | issue = S6 | pages = S48–S51 | date = September 2013 | pmid = 25370288 | doi = 10.5694/mja12.10509 | s2cid = 204073048 }}{{cite web |url=https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/cg90 |title=Depression in adults: The treatment and management of depression in adults. NICE guidelines CG90 |publisher=National Institute for Clinical Excellence |year=2009}} ECT has also been used in selected cases of depression occurring in the setting of multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's chorea, developmental delay, brain arteriovenous malformations, and hydrocephalus.{{cite book|title=Bradley's Neurology in Clinical Practice: Expert Consult|year=2012|publisher=Elsevier/Saunders|location=Philadelphia|isbn=978-1-4377-0434-1|vauthors=Murray ED, Buttner N, Price BH |volume=1|edition=6th|pages=114–115|veditors=Bradley WG, Daroff RB, Fenichel GM, Jankovic J |chapter=Depression and Psychosis in Neurological Practice}}

A meta-analysis on the effectiveness of ECT in unipolar and bipolar depression indicated that although patients with unipolar depression and bipolar depression responded to other medical treatments very differently, both groups responded equally well to ECT. Overall remission rate for patients given a round of ECT treatment was 50.9% for those with unipolar depression and 53.2% for those with bipolar depression. Most severely depressed patients respond to ECT.{{cite journal | vauthors = Dierckx B, Heijnen WT, van den Broek WW, Birkenhäger TK | title = Efficacy of electroconvulsive therapy in bipolar versus unipolar major depression: a meta-analysis | journal = Bipolar Disorders | volume = 14 | issue = 2 | pages = 146–150 | date = March 2012 | pmid = 22420590 | doi = 10.1111/j.1399-5618.2012.00997.x | publisher = Wiley | s2cid = 44280002 }}

In 2004, a meta-analysis found in terms of efficacy, "a significant superiority of ECT in all comparisons: ECT versus simulated ECT, ECT versus placebo, ECT versus antidepressants in general, ECT versus tricyclics and ECT versus monoamine oxidase inhibitors."{{cite journal | vauthors = Pagnin D, de Queiroz V, Pini S, Cassano GB | title = Efficacy of ECT in depression: a meta-analytic review | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 20 | issue = 1 | pages = 13–20 | date = March 2004 | pmid = 15087991 | doi = 10.1097/00124509-200403000-00004 | s2cid = 25843283 }}

In 2003, the UK ECT Review Group published a systematic review and meta-analysis comparing ECT to placebo and antidepressant drugs. This meta-analysis demonstrated a large effect size (high efficacy relative to the mean in terms of the standard deviation) for ECT versus placebo, and versus antidepressant drugs.{{cite journal | vauthors = ((UK ECT Review Group)) | title = Efficacy and safety of electroconvulsive therapy in depressive disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Lancet | volume = 361 | issue = 9360 | pages = 799–808 | date = March 2003 | pmid = 12642045 | doi = 10.1016/S0140-6736(03)12705-5 | s2cid = 28964580 }}

Compared with repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS) for people with treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, ECT relieves depression as shown by reducing the score on the Hamilton Rating Scale for Depression by about 15 points, while rTMS reduced it by 9 points.{{cite journal | vauthors = Micallef-Trigona B | title = Comparing the effects of repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation and electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Depression Research and Treatment | volume = 2014 | pages = 135049 | year = 2014 | pmid = 25143831 | pmc = 4131106 | doi = 10.1155/2014/135049 | doi-access = free }}

Other estimates regarding the response rate in treatment resistant depression vary between 60–80%, with a remission rate of 50–60%.{{cite journal |last1=Espinoza |first1=Randall T. |last2=Kellner |first2=Charles H. |title=Electroconvulsive Therapy |journal=New England Journal of Medicine |date=17 February 2022 |volume=386 |issue=7 |pages=667–672 |doi=10.1056/NEJMra2034954|pmid=35172057 }} In addition to reducing symptoms of depression and inducing relapse, ECT has also been shown to reduce the risk of suicide, improve functional outcomes and quality of life as well as reduce the risk of re-hospitalization. Efficacy does not depend on depression subtype. With regards to treatment resistant schizophrenia, the response rate is 40–70%.

There is little agreement on the most appropriate follow-up to ECT for people with major depressive disorder.{{cite journal | vauthors = Jelovac A, Kolshus E, McLoughlin DM | title = Relapse following successful electroconvulsive therapy for major depression: a meta-analysis | journal = Neuropsychopharmacology | volume = 38 | issue = 12 | pages = 2467–2474 | date = November 2013 | pmid = 23774532 | pmc = 3799066 | doi = 10.1038/npp.2013.149 }} The initial course of ECT is then transitioned to maintenance ECT, pharmacotherapy or both. When ECT is stopped abruptly, without a bridge to maintenance ECT or medications (usually antidepressants and Lithium), it is associated with a relapse rate of 84%. There is no defined schedule for maintenance ECT, however it is usually started weekly with intervals extended permissibly with the goal of maintaining remission. When ECT is followed by treatment with antidepressants, about 50% of people relapsed by 12 months following successful initial treatment with ECT, with about 37% relapsing within the first 6 months. About twice as many relapsed with no antidepressants. Most of the evidence for continuation therapy is with tricyclic antidepressants; evidence for relapse prevention with newer antidepressants is lacking.{{update after|2025|3|26}} Adjunct maintenance ECT paired with cognitive behavioral therapy has also been shown to reduce relapse rates. Maintenance ECT may safely continue indefinitely, with no set maximum treatment interval established.

Lithium has also been found to reduce the risk of relapse, especially in younger patients.{{cite journal | vauthors = Lambrichts S, Detraux J, Vansteelandt K, Nordenskjöld A, Obbels J, Schrijvers D, Sienaert P | title = Does lithium prevent relapse following successful electroconvulsive therapy for major depression? A systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | volume = 143 | issue = 4 | pages = 294–306 | date = April 2021 | pmid = 33506961 | doi = 10.1111/acps.13277 | s2cid = 231759831 | hdl = 10067/1751810151162165141 | url = https://lirias.kuleuven.be/handle/123456789/669413 | hdl-access = free }}

ECT is generally a second-line treatment for people with catatonia who do not respond to other treatments, but is a first-line treatment for severe or life-threatening catatonia.{{cite journal | vauthors = Sienaert P, Dhossche DM, Vancampfort D, De Hert M, Gazdag G | title = A clinical review of the treatment of catatonia | journal = Frontiers in Psychiatry | volume = 5 | pages = 181 | date = Dec 2014 | pmid = 25538636 | pmc = 4260674 | doi = 10.3389/fpsyt.2014.00181 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Leroy A, Naudet F, Vaiva G, Francis A, Thomas P, Amad A | title = Is electroconvulsive therapy an evidence-based treatment for catatonia? A systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = European Archives of Psychiatry and Clinical Neuroscience | volume = 268 | issue = 7 | pages = 675–687 | date = October 2018 | pmid = 28639007 | doi = 10.1007/s00406-017-0819-5 | s2cid = 4013882 }} There is a plethora of evidence for its efficacy, notwithstanding a lack of randomised controlled trials, such that "the excellent efficacy of ECT in catatonia is generally acknowledged". For people with autism spectrum disorders who have catatonia, there is little published evidence about the efficacy of ECT.{{cite journal | vauthors = DeJong H, Bunton P, Hare DJ | title = A systematic review of interventions used to treat catatonic symptoms in people with autistic spectrum disorders | journal = Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders | volume = 44 | issue = 9 | pages = 2127–2136 | date = September 2014 | pmid = 24643578 | doi = 10.1007/s10803-014-2085-y | s2cid = 22002956 }}

ECT is used to treat people who have severe or prolonged mania; NICE recommends it only in life-threatening situations or when other treatments have failedNICE [https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ta59 Guidance on the use of electroconvulsive therapy. NICE technology appraisals TA59]. Published date: April 2003 and as a second-line treatment for bipolar mania.{{cite journal | vauthors = Kanba S, Kato T, Terao T, Yamada K | title = Guideline for treatment of bipolar disorder by the Japanese Society of Mood Disorders, 2012 | journal = Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences | volume = 67 | issue = 5 | pages = 285–300 | date = July 2013 | pmid = 23773266 | doi = 10.1111/pcn.12060 | s2cid = 2058163 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Malhi GS, Tanious M, Berk M | title = Mania: diagnosis and treatment recommendations | journal = Current Psychiatry Reports | volume = 14 | issue = 6 | pages = 676–686 | date = December 2012 | pmid = 22986995 | doi = 10.1007/s11920-012-0324-5 | s2cid = 37771648 }}

ECT is widely used worldwide in the treatment of schizophrenia. However, in North America and Western Europe it is invariably used only in treatment resistant schizophrenia when symptoms show little response to antipsychotics; there is comprehensive research evidence for such practice.{{cite journal | vauthors = Tharyan P, Adams CE | title = Electroconvulsive therapy for schizophrenia | journal = The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews | issue = 2 | pages = CD000076 | date = April 2005 | pmid = 15846598 | doi = 10.1002/14651858.CD000076.pub2 | veditors = Tharyan P }} It is useful in the case of severe exacerbations of catatonic schizophrenia, whether excited or stuporous. There are also case reports of ECT improving persistent psychotic symptoms associated with stimulant-induced psychosis.{{cite journal | vauthors = Penders TM, Gestring RE, Vilensky DA | title = Intoxication delirium following use of synthetic cathinone derivatives | journal = The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse | volume = 38 | issue = 6 | pages = 616–617 | date = November 2012 | pmid = 22783894 | doi = 10.3109/00952990.2012.694535 | s2cid = 207428569 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Penders TM, Lang MC, Pagano JJ, Gooding ZS | title = Electroconvulsive therapy improves persistent psychosis after repeated use of methylenedioxypyrovalerone ("bath salts") | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 29 | issue = 4 | pages = e59–e60 | date = December 2013 | pmid = 23609518 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0b013e3182887bc2 | s2cid = 45842375 }}

Aside from effects on the brain, the general risk for adverse effects stemming from ECT are similar to those of brief general anesthesia; a Surgeon General of the United States's report stated that there are "no absolute health contraindications" to its use.{{rp|259}} Immediately following treatment, the most common adverse effects are confusion and memory loss. Some patients experience muscle soreness after ECT. Other common adverse effects of ECT include headache, jaw soreness, nausea, vomiting, and fatigue. These side effects are transient and respond to treatment. There is evidence and rationale to support giving low doses of benzodiazepines or lower doses of general anesthetics, which induce sedation but not unconsciousness, to patients to reduce the likelihood of adverse effects of ECT.{{cite journal | vauthors = Gallegos J, Vaidya P, D'Agati D, Jayaram G, Nguyen T, Tripathi A, Trivedi JK, Reti IM | title = Decreasing adverse outcomes of unmodified electroconvulsive therapy: suggestions and possibilities | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 28 | issue = 2 | pages = 77–81 | date = June 2012 | pmid = 22531198 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0b013e3182359314 | s2cid = 6423840 }}

While there are no absolute contraindications for ECT, there is an increased risk for patients who have unstable or severe cardiovascular conditions or aneurysms; who have recently had a stroke; who have increased intracranial pressure (for instance, due to a solid brain tumor); who have severe pulmonary conditions; or who are generally at high risk for adverse effects from anesthesia.{{rp|30}}

In adolescents, ECT is highly efficient for several psychiatric disorders, with few and relatively benign adverse effects.Neera Ghaziuddin, Garry Walter (eds.): Electroconvulsive Therapy in Children and Adolescents, Oxford University Press, 2013, {{ISBN|978-0199937899}}, pp. 161–280.{{cite journal | vauthors = Lima NN, Nascimento VB, Peixoto JA, Moreira MM, Neto ML, Almeida JC, Vasconcelos CA, Teixeira SA, Júnior JG, Junior FT, Guimarães DD, Brasil AQ, Cartaxo JS, Akerman M, Reis AO | title = Electroconvulsive therapy use in adolescents: a systematic review | journal = Annals of General Psychiatry | volume = 12 | issue = 1 | pages = 17 | date = May 2013 | pmid = 23718899 | pmc = 3680000 | doi = 10.1186/1744-859X-12-17 | doi-access = free }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Benson NM, Seiner SJ | title = Electroconvulsive Therapy in Children and Adolescents: Clinical Indications and Special Considerations | journal = Harvard Review of Psychiatry | volume = 27 | issue = 6 | pages = 354–358 | year = 2019 | pmid = 31714466 | doi = 10.1097/HRP.0000000000000236 | s2cid = 207934946 }}

A meta-analysis from 2017 found that the death rate of ECT was around 2.1 per 100,000 procedures.{{cite journal | vauthors = Tørring N, Sanghani SN, Petrides G, Kellner CH, Østergaard SD | title = The mortality rate of electroconvulsive therapy: a systematic review and pooled analysis | journal = Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | volume = 135 | issue = 5 | pages = 388–397 | date = May 2017 | pmid = 28332236 | doi = 10.1111/acps.12721 | s2cid = 31879446 }} A review from 2011 reported an estimated ECT mortality rate of fewer than one death per 73,440 treatments.{{cite journal | vauthors = Watts BV, Groft A, Bagian JP, Mills PD | title = An examination of mortality and other adverse events related to electroconvulsive therapy using a national adverse event report system | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 27 | issue = 2 | pages = 105–108 | date = June 2011 | pmid = 20966769 | pmc = | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0b013e3181f6d17f | s2cid = 33442075 }}

Cognitive impairment sometimes occurs after ECT.{{cite journal | vauthors = Holtzheimer PE, Mayberg HS | title = Deep brain stimulation for treatment-resistant depression | journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 167 | issue = 12 | pages = 1437–1444 | date = December 2010 | pmid = 21131410 | pmc = 4413473 | doi = 10.1176/appi.ajp.2010.10010141 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = McClintock SM, Choi J, Deng ZD, Appelbaum LG, Krystal AD, Lisanby SH | title = Multifactorial determinants of the neurocognitive effects of electroconvulsive therapy | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 30 | issue = 2 | pages = 165–176 | date = June 2014 | pmid = 24820942 | pmc = 4143898 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000137 | hdl = 10161/10644 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Loo CK, Katalinic N, Smith DJ, Ingram A, Dowling N, Martin D, Addison K, Hadzi-Pavlovic D, Simpson B, Schweitzer I | title = A randomized controlled trial of brief and ultrabrief pulse right unilateral electroconvulsive therapy | journal = The International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology | volume = 18 | issue = 1 | page = pyu045 | date = December 2014 | pmid = 25522389 | pmc = 4368876 | doi = 10.1093/ijnp/pyu045 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Kellner CH, Knapp R, Husain MM, Rasmussen K, Sampson S, Cullum M, McClintock SM, Tobias KG, Martino C, Mueller M, Bailine SH, Fink M, Petrides G | title = Bifrontal, bitemporal and right unilateral electrode placement in ECT: randomised trial | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 196 | issue = 3 | pages = 226–234 | date = March 2010 | pmid = 20194546 | pmc = 2830057 | doi = 10.1192/bjp.bp.109.066183 }} The American Psychiatric Association (APA) report in 2001 acknowledged: "In some patients the recovery from retrograde amnesia will be incomplete, and evidence has shown that ECT can result in persistent or permanent memory loss". It is the purported effects of ECT on long-term memory that give rise to much of the concern surrounding its use. However, the methods used to measure memory loss are non-specific, and their application to people with depressive disorders, who have cognitive deficits related to depression, including problems with memory, may further limit their utility.{{cite journal | vauthors = Semkovska M, McLoughlin DM | title = Measuring retrograde autobiographical amnesia following electroconvulsive therapy: historical perspective and current issues | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 29 | issue = 2 | pages = 127–133 | date = June 2013 | pmid = 23303426 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0b013e318279c2c9 | s2cid = 45019739 }}

The acute effects of ECT can include amnesia, both retrograde (for events occurring before the treatment) and anterograde (for events occurring after the treatment).Benbow, SM (2004) "Adverse effects of ECT". In AIF Scott (ed.) [http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/collegereports/cr/cr128.aspx The ECT Handbook, second edition.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421154919/http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/publications/collegereports/cr/cr128.aspx |date=2012-04-21 }} London: The Royal College of Psychiatrists, pp. 170–174. Memory loss and confusion are more pronounced with bilateral electrode placement rather than unilateral and with outdated sine-wave rather than brief-pulse currents. Using either constant or pulsing electrical impulses also varied the memory loss results in patients. Patients who received pulsing electrical impulses, as opposed to a steady flow, seemed to incur less memory loss. The vast majority of modern treatments use brief pulse currents. A greater number of treatments and higher electrical charges (stimulus charges) have also been associated with a greater risk of memory impairment.

Retrograde amnesia is most marked for events occurring in the weeks or months before treatment. Anterograde memory loss usually resolves 2–4 weeks after treatment, whereas retrograde amnesia (which develops gradually after repeated treatments in the initial course) usually takes weeks to months to resolve; amnesia rarely persists for more than 1 year. Retrograde amnesia after ECT usually affects autobiographical memory rather than semantic memory. One published review summarizing the results of questionnaires about subjective memory loss found that between 29% and 55% of respondents believed they experienced long-lasting or permanent memory changes.{{cite journal | vauthors = Rose D, Fleischmann P, Wykes T, Leese M, Bindman J | title = Patients' perspectives on electroconvulsive therapy: systematic review | journal = BMJ | volume = 326 | issue = 7403 | pages = 1363–0 | date = June 2003 | pmid = 12816822 | pmc = 162130 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.326.7403.1363 }} In 2000, American psychiatrist Sarah Lisanby and colleagues found that bilateral ECT left patients with more persistently impaired memory of public events as compared to right unilateral ECT.{{cite journal | vauthors = Lisanby SH, Maddox JH, Prudic J, Devanand DP, Sackeim HA | title = The effects of electroconvulsive therapy on memory of autobiographical and public events | journal = Archives of General Psychiatry | volume = 57 | issue = 6 | pages = 581–590 | date = June 2000 | pmid = 10839336 | doi = 10.1001/archpsyc.57.6.581 | doi-broken-date = 29 January 2025 | doi-access = }} However, bilateral ECT may be more efficacious than unilateral in the treatment of mood disorders.

ECT has not been found to increase the risk of dementia or cause structural brain damage.{{cite journal |last1=Osler |first1=Merete |last2=Rozing |first2=Maarten Pieter |last3=Christensen |first3=Gunhild Tidemann |last4=Andersen |first4=Per Kragh |last5=Jørgensen |first5=Martin Balslev |title=Electroconvulsive therapy and risk of dementia in patients with affective disorders: a cohort study |journal=The Lancet Psychiatry |date=April 2018 |volume=5 |issue=4 |pages=348–356 |doi=10.1016/S2215-0366(18)30056-7|pmid=29523431 }}

Considerable controversy exists over the effects of ECT on brain tissue, although a number of mental health associations—including the APA—have concluded that there is no evidence that ECT causes structural brain damage. A 1999 report by the US Surgeon General states: "The fears that ECT causes gross structural brain pathology have not been supported by decades of methodologically sound research in both humans and animals."

Many expert proponents of ECT maintain that the procedure is safe and does not cause brain damage. Dr. Charles Kellner, a prominent ECT researcher and former chief editor of the Journal of ECT, stated in a 2007 interview that, "There are a number of well-designed studies that show ECT does not cause brain damage and numerous reports of patients who have received a large number of treatments over their lifetime and have suffered no significant problems due to ECT."{{cite journal| vauthors = Sussman N |date=March 2007|title=In Session with Charles H. Kellner, MD: Current Developments in Electroconvulsive Therapy|url=http://www.primarypsychiatry.com/aspx/articledetail.aspx?articleid=1028|journal=Primary Psychiatry|volume=14|issue=3|pages=34–37|access-date=2009-10-17|archive-date=2011-05-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516045638/http://www.primarypsychiatry.com/aspx/articledetail.aspx?articleid=1028|url-status=dead}} Kellner cites a study purporting to show an absence of cognitive impairment in eight subjects after more than 100 lifetime ECT treatments.{{cite journal | vauthors = Devanand DP, Verma AK, Tirumalasetti F, Sackeim HA | title = Absence of cognitive impairment after more than 100 lifetime ECT treatments | journal = The American Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 148 | issue = 7 | pages = 929–932 | date = July 1991 | pmid = 2053635 | doi = 10.1176/ajp.148.7.929 | author-link = Davangere Devanand }} Kellner stated, "Rather than cause brain damage, there is evidence that ECT may reverse some of the damaging effects of serious psychiatric illness." Two meta-analyses find that ECT is associated with brain matter growth.{{cite journal | vauthors = Gbyl K, Videbech P | title = Electroconvulsive therapy increases brain volume in major depression: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica | volume = 138 | issue = 3 | pages = 180–195 | date = September 2018 | pmid = 29707778 | doi = 10.1111/acps.12884 | s2cid = 14042369 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Wilkinson ST, Sanacora G, Bloch MH | title = Hippocampal volume changes following electroconvulsive therapy: a systematic review and meta-analysis | journal = Biological Psychiatry. Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging | volume = 2 | issue = 4 | pages = 327–335 | date = May 2017 | pmid = 28989984 | pmc = 5627663 | doi = 10.1016/j.bpsc.2017.01.011 }}

If steps are taken to decrease potential risks, ECT is generally considered relatively safe during all trimesters of pregnancy, particularly when compared to pharmacological treatments.{{cite journal | vauthors = Richards EM, Payne JL | title = The management of mood disorders in pregnancy: alternatives to antidepressants | journal = CNS Spectrums | volume = 18 | issue = 5 | pages = 261–271 | date = October 2013 | pmid = 23570692 | doi = 10.1017/S1092852913000151 | type = Submitted manuscript | s2cid = 24489076 | url = https://zenodo.org/record/1235843 }} Suggested preparation for ECT during pregnancy includes a pelvic examination, discontinuation of nonessential anticholinergic medication, uterine tocodynamometry, intravenous hydration, and administration of a nonparticulate antacid. During ECT, elevation of the pregnant woman's right hip, external fetal cardiac monitoring, intubation, and avoidance of excessive hyperventilation are recommended. In many instances of active mood disorder during pregnancy, the risks of untreated symptoms may outweigh the risks of ECT. Modifications in technique can minimize potential complications of ECT during pregnancy. The use of ECT during pregnancy requires a thorough evaluation of the patient's capacity for informed consent.{{cite journal | vauthors = Miller LJ | title = Use of electroconvulsive therapy during pregnancy | journal = Hospital & Community Psychiatry | volume = 45 | issue = 5 | pages = 444–450 | date = May 1994 | pmid = 8045538 | doi = 10.1176/ps.45.5.444 }}

ECT can cause a lack of blood flow and oxygen to the heart, heart arrhythmia, and "persistent asystole". A 2019 systematic review and meta-analysis of 82 studies found that the rate of major adverse cardiac events with ECT was 1 in 39 patients or about 1 in 200 to 500 procedures.{{cite journal | vauthors = Duma A, Maleczek M, Panjikaran B, Herkner H, Karrison T, Nagele P | title = Major Adverse Cardiac Events and Mortality Associated with Electroconvulsive Therapy: A Systematic Review and Meta-analysis | journal = Anesthesiology | volume = 130 | issue = 1 | pages = 83–91 | date = January 2019 | pmid = 30557212 | pmc = 6300062 | doi = 10.1097/ALN.0000000000002488 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Read J, Moncrieff J | title = Depression: why drugs and electricity are not the answer | journal = Psychological Medicine | volume = 52 | issue = 8 | pages = 1401–1410 | date = June 2022 | pmid = 35100527 | doi = 10.1017/S0033291721005031 | s2cid = 246442707 | url = https://repository.uel.ac.uk/download/0fd9663377e02e8033e12c27844d65b5e918406de4d7c7baca5031a8e8ba4c5a/408146/Read%20and%20Moncrieff%20Psych%20Med%20ROAR.pdf }} The risk of death with ECT however is low.{{cite journal | vauthors = Read J, Kirsch I, McGrath L | title = Electroconvulsive Therapy for Depression: A Review of the Quality of ECT versus Sham ECT Trials and Meta-Analyses | journal = Ethical Human Psychology and Psychiatry | date = 1 October 2019 | volume = 21 | issue = 2 | pages = 64–103 | issn = 1559-4343 | eissn = 1938-9000 | doi = 10.1891/EHPP-D-19-00014 | pmid = | url = https://www.madinamerica.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/ECT-study-John-Read-Irving-Kirsch-Laura-McGrath-64.full_.pdf}} If death does occur, cardiovascular complications are considered as causal in about 30% of individuals.

File:ECT machine 03.JPG in Bristol, England]]

File:NTM Eg Asyl ECT apparatus IMG 0977.JPG and used for example at the Asyl psychiatric hospital in Kristiansand, Norway, from the 1960s to the 1980s]]

The placement of electrodes, as well as the dose and duration of the stimulation is determined on a per-patient basis.{{rp|1881}}

In unilateral ECT, both electrodes are placed on the same side of the patient's head. Unilateral ECT may be used first to minimize side effects such as memory loss.

In bilateral ECT, the two electrodes are placed on opposite sides of the head. Usually bitemporal placement is used, whereby the electrodes are placed on the temples. Uncommonly bifrontal placement is used; this involves positioning the electrodes on the patient's forehead, roughly above each eye.

Unilateral ECT is thought to cause fewer cognitive effects than bilateral treatment, but is less effective unless administered at higher doses.{{rp|1881}} Most patients in the US{{cite journal |vauthors=Prudic J, Olfson M, Sackeim HA |title=Electro-convulsive therapy practices in the community |journal=Psychol Med |volume=31 |issue=5 |pages=929–934 |date=July 2001 |pmid=11459391 |doi= 10.1017/S0033291701003750|s2cid=12210381 }} and almost all in the UK{{cite web| vauthors = Barnes R |title=Information on ECT|url=http://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/expertadvice/treatmentswellbeing/ect.aspx|publisher=Royal College of Psychiatrists' Special Committee on ECT and related treatment|access-date=3 November 2013}}Royal College of Psychiatrists. Council Report. The ECT Handbook: The Third Report of the Royal College of Psychiatrists' Special Committee of ECT. RCPsych Publications, 2005 {{ISBN|978-1904671220}}{{cite journal |vauthors=Duffett R, Lelliott P |title=Auditing electroconvulsive therapy. The third cycle |journal=Br J Psychiatry |volume=172 |issue= 5|pages=401–405 |year=1998 |pmid=9747401 |doi=10.1192/bjp.172.5.401|s2cid=23584054 }} receive bilateral ECT.

The electrodes deliver an electrical stimulus. The stimulus levels recommended for ECT are in excess of an individual's seizure threshold: about one and a half times seizure threshold for bilateral ECT and up to 12 times for unilateral ECT.{{rp|1881}} Below these levels treatment may not be effective in spite of a seizure, while doses massively above threshold level, especially with bilateral ECT, expose patients to the risk of more severe cognitive impairment without additional therapeutic gains. Seizure threshold is determined by trial and error ("dose titration"). Some psychiatrists use dose titration, some still use "fixed dose" (that is, all patients are given the same dose) and others compromise by roughly estimating a patient's threshold according to age and sex. Older men tend to have higher thresholds than younger women, but it is not a hard and fast rule, and other factors, for example drugs, affect seizure threshold.

Immediately prior to treatment, a patient is given a short-acting anesthetic such as methohexital, propofol, etomidate, or thiopental, a muscle relaxant such as suxamethonium (succinylcholine), and occasionally atropine to inhibit salivation.{{rp|1882}} Studies have shown that adding ketamine, an NMDA receptor antagonist, to the anesthesia regimen produced greater decreases in depression scores when compared to propofol, methohexital, and thiopental alone.Sicignano DJ, Kantesaria R, Mastropietro M, et al. The Impact of Ketamine-Based Versus Non-Ketamine-Based ECT Anesthesia Regimens on the Severity of Patients’ Depression and Occurrence of Adverse Events: A Systematic Review with Meta-Analysis. Annals of Pharmacotherapy. 2024;0(0). doi:10.1177/10600280241260754. In a minority of countries such as Japan,{{cite journal |vauthors=Motohashi N, Awata S, Higuchi T |title=A questionnaire survey of ECT practice in university hospitals and national hospitals in Japan |journal=J ECT |volume=20 |issue=1 |pages=21–23 |year=2004 |pmid=15087992 |doi=10.1097/00124509-200403000-00005|s2cid=41654261 }} India,{{cite journal |vauthors=Chanpattana W, Kunigiri G, Kramer BA, Gangadhar BN |title=Survey of the practice of electroconvulsive therapy in teaching hospitals in India |journal=J ECT |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=100–104 |year=2005 |pmid=15905751 |doi=10.1097/01.yct.0000166634.73555.e6|s2cid=5985564 }} and Nigeria,{{cite journal |vauthors=Ikeji OC, Ohaeri JU, Osahon RO, Agidee RO |title=Naturalistic comparative study of outcome and cognitive effects of unmodified electro-convulsive therapy in schizophrenia, mania and severe depression in Nigeria |journal=East Afr Med J |volume=76 |issue=11 |pages=644–50 |year=1999 |pmid=10734527 }} ECT may be used without anesthesia. The Union Health Ministry of India recommended a ban on ECT without anesthesia in India's Mental Health Care Bill of 2010 and the Mental Health Care Bill of 2013.Teena Thacker for Indian Express. Mar 23 2011 [http://www.indianexpress.com/news/Electroshocks-for-mentally-ill-patients-to-be-banned/766051/ Electroshocks for mentally ill patients to be banned]{{cite journal|doi=10.4103/0019-5545.117129|pmid=24082240|pmc=3777341|year=2013| vauthors = Kala A |title=Time to face new realities; mental health care bill-2013|journal=Indian Journal of Psychiatry|volume=55|issue=3|pages=216–219 |doi-access=free }} The practice was abolished in Turkey's largest psychiatric hospital in 2008.{{cite web |url=http://v1.dpi.org/lang-en/resources/topics_detail?page=557 |title=Abusive practice of "unmodified" electroshock treatment abolished at main psychiatric facility of Turkey |access-date=2008-03-25 |publisher=Disabled Peoples' International |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071012175528/http://v1.dpi.org/lang-en/resources/topics_detail?page=557 |archive-date=2007-10-12 |url-status=dead }}

The patient's EEG, ECG, and blood oxygen levels are monitored during treatment.{{rp|1882}}

ECT is usually administered three times a week, on alternate days, over a course of two to four weeks.{{rp|1882–1883}}

File:Electroconvulsive Therapy.png

Neuroimaging prior to ECT may be useful for detecting intracranial pressure or mass given that patients respond less when one of these conditions exist. Nonetheless, it is not indicated due to high cost and low prevalence of these conditions in patients needing ECT.{{cite journal | vauthors = Narang P, Swenson A, Lippmann S | title = Neuroimaging Before ECT? | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 35 | issue = 1 | pages = e5–e6 | date = March 2019 | pmid = 29944607 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000515 | s2cid = 49432743 }}

Whether psychiatric medications are terminated prior to treatment or maintained, varies.{{rp|1885}}{{cite journal | vauthors = Haskett RF, Loo C | title = Adjunctive psychotropic medications during electroconvulsive therapy in the treatment of depression, mania, and schizophrenia | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 26 | issue = 3 | pages = 196–201 | date = September 2010 | pmid = 20805728 | pmc = 2952444 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0b013e3181eee13f }} However, drugs that are known to cause toxicity in combination with ECT, such as lithium, are discontinued, and benzodiazepines, which increase the seizure threshold,{{cite web|author1=Madhavan Seshadri|author2=Nadeem Z Mazi-Kotwal|title=Response Predictors in ECT: A discussion about Seizure Threshold|url=http://www.bjmp.org/content/response-predictors-ect-discussion-about-seizure-threshold|publisher=British Journal of Medical Practitioners|access-date=23 March 2016|ref=BJMP 2011;4(2):a424}} are either discontinued, a benzodiazepine antagonist is administered at each ECT session, or the ECT treatment is adjusted accordingly.{{rp|1875, 1879}}

A 2009 RCT provides some evidence indicating that concurrent use of some antidepressant improves ECT efficacy.

ECT is usually done from 6 to 12 times in 2 to 4 weeks but can sometimes exceed 12 rounds. It is also recommended to not do ECT more than 3 times per week. Evidence suggest that ECTs for depression may be stopped if there is no improvement during the first six sessions.{{cite journal | last1=Thirthalli | first1=Jagadisha | last2=Naik | first2=Shalini S. | last3=Kunigiri | first3=Girish | title=Frequency and Duration of Course of ECT Sessions: An Appraisal of Recent Evidence | journal=Indian Journal of Psychological Medicine | volume=42 | issue=3 | date=2020 | issn=0253-7176 | pmid=32612324 | pmc=7320735 | doi=10.4103/IJPSYM.IJPSYM_410_19 | doi-access=free | pages=207–218}}

In the US, the medical team performing the procedure typically consists of a psychiatrist, an anesthetist, an ECT treatment nurse or qualified assistant, and one or more recovery nurses.{{rp|109}} Medical trainees may assist, but only under the direct supervision of credentialed attending physicians and staff.{{rp|110}}

File:Siemens konvulsator III (ECT machine).jpg

File:ThymatronIV.jpg

Most modern ECT devices deliver a brief-pulse current, which is thought to cause fewer cognitive effects than the sine-wave currents which were originally used in ECT. A small minority of psychiatrists in the US still use{{update inline|date=March 2025}} sine-wave stimuli.{{asof|2025|3}} Sine-wave is no longer used in the UK or Ireland.

Typically, the electrical stimulus used in ECT is about 800 milliamps and has up to several hundred watts, and the current flows for between one and six seconds.Lock, T (1995). "Stimulus dosing". In C Freeman (ed.) The ECT Handbook. London: Royal College of Psychiatrists, 72–87.

Typically, 70 to 120 volts are applied externally to the patient's head, resulting in approximately 800 milliamperes of direct current passing between the electrodes, for a duration of 100 milliseconds to 6 seconds,{{cn|date=March 2025}} either from temple to temple (bilateral ECT) or from front to back of one side of the head (unilateral ECT). However, only about 1% of the electrical current crosses the bony skull into the brain because skull impedance is about 100 times higher than skin impedance.{{Cite web | vauthors = Solano J |date=2009-04-20 |title=Electroconvulsive Therapy |url=https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/fumie.costen/tmp/ect.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220218125601/https://personalpages.manchester.ac.uk/staff/fumie.costen/tmp/ect.pdf |archive-date=2022-02-18 |url-status=live |access-date=2022-05-17|page=4}}

In the US, ECT devices are manufactured by two companies, Somatics, which is owned by psychiatrists Richard Abrams and Conrad Swartz, and Mecta.Corinne Slusher for MedScape. Updated: Jan 6, 2012 [http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/2015450-overview#showall Electroconvulsive Therapy Machine] In the UK, the market for ECT devices was long monopolized by Ectron Ltd, which was set up by psychiatrist Robert Russell.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ectron.co.uk/our-story |title=Ectron: Our story |access-date=2015-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141027122953/http://www.ectron.co.uk/our-story |archive-date=2014-10-27 |url-status=dead }}

Despite decades of research, the exact mechanism of action of ECT remains elusive. A review from 2022 of neuroimaging studies based on a global data collaboration, resulted in a model of temporary disruption of neural circuits followed by augmented neuroplasticity and rewiring. Other brain changes observed after ECT include increased gray matter volume in the frontolimbic areas including the hippocampus and amygdala, increased white matter tracts in the frontal and temporal lobes, increased monoamine neurotransmitters and increased neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus. Changes in sleep architecture due to the induced seizures have also been hypothesized as a mechanism of action.{{cite journal | last=Tsoukalas | first=Ioannis | title=How does ECT work? A new explanatory model and suggestions for non-convulsive applications | journal=Medical Hypotheses| volume=145 | issue=110337 | year=2020 | pmid=33099256 | doi=10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110337 | url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2020.110337| url-access=subscription }}

As of 2001, it was estimated that about one million people received ECT annually.

There is wide variation in ECT use between different countries, different hospitals, and different psychiatrists. International practice varies considerably from widespread use of the therapy in many Western countries to a small minority of countries that do not use ECT at all, such as SloveniaSee the [http://e-uprava.gov.si/e-uprava/en/faqKategorijaVprasanje.euprava?faq.id=74&faq.vprasanje.id=328 Slovenian government website] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070808181603/http://e-uprava.gov.si/e-uprava/en/faqKategorijaVprasanje.euprava?faq.id=74&faq.vprasanje.id=328 |date=2007-08-08 }} for information about ECT in Slovenia. and Luxembourg.{{Cite journal |last1=Gazdag |first1=Gábor |last2=Takács |first2=Rozália |last3=Ungvari |first3=Gabor S. |last4=Sienaert |first4=Pascal |date=March 2012 |title=The Practice of Consenting to Electroconvulsive Therapy in the European Union |url=https://journals.lww.com/ectjournal/abstract/2012/03000/the_practice_of_consenting_to_electroconvulsive.3.aspx |journal=The Journal of ECT |language=en-US |volume=28 |issue=1 |pages=4–6 |doi=10.1097/YCT.0b013e318223c63c |pmid=22343577 |issn=1095-0680|url-access=subscription }}

About 70 percent of ECT patients are women. This may be because women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression. Older and more affluent patients are also more likely to receive ECT. The use of ECT is not as common in ethnic minorities.{{cite journal |vauthors=Euba R, Saiz A |title=A comparison of the ethnic distribution in the depressed inpatient population and in the electroconvulsive therapy clinic |journal=J ECT |volume=22 |issue=4 |pages=235–236 |year=2006 |pmid=17143151 |doi=10.1097/01.yct.0000235928.39279.52|s2cid=28261416 }}

In Sweden, which has a complete register of all ECT treatments in the country, in 2013 the rate of persons treated in that year per 100,000 inhabitants was 41. Almost the same rate had already been present in 1975 with 42 patients per 100,000 inhabitants.{{cite journal | vauthors = Nordanskog P, Hultén M, Landén M, Lundberg J, von Knorring L, Nordenskjöld A | title = Electroconvulsive Therapy in Sweden 2013: Data From the National Quality Register for ECT | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 31 | issue = 4 | pages = 263–267 | date = December 2015 | pmid = 25973769 | pmc = 4652632 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000243 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Nordenskjöld A, Mårtensson B, Pettersson A, Heintz E, Landén M | title = Effects of Hesel-coil deep transcranial magnetic stimulation for depression - a systematic review | journal = Nordic Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 70 | issue = 7 | pages = 492–497 | date = October 2016 | pmid = 27093104 | pmc = 5020337 | doi = 10.3109/08039488.2016.1166263 }}

ECT became popular in the US in the 1940s. At the time, psychiatric hospitals were overrun with patients whom doctors were desperate to treat and cure. Whereas lobotomies would reduce a patient to a more manageable submissive state, ECT helped to improve mood in those with severe depression. A survey of psychiatric practice in the late 1980s found that an estimated 100,000 people received ECT annually, with wide variation between metropolitan statistical areas.{{cite journal |vauthors=Hermann R, Dorwart R, Hoover C, Brody J | title=Variation in ECT use in the United States | journal=Am J Psychiatry | volume=152 | issue=6 | pages=869–875 | year=1995 | pmid=7755116 | doi=10.1176/ajp.152.6.869}}

Accurate statistics about the frequency, context and circumstances of ECT in the US are difficult to obtain because only a few states have reporting laws that require the treating facility to supply state authorities with this information.{{cite news | vauthors = Cauchon D | title = Patients often aren't informed of full danger | url = http://www.harborside.com/~equinox/ect1.htm | newspaper = USA Today | date = 1995-12-06 | access-date = 2008-01-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080115204557/http://www.harborside.com/~equinox/ect1.htm | archive-date = 2008-01-15 | url-status = dead }} In 13 of the 50 states, the practice of ECT is regulated by law.{{Cite web|url=https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/how-everyone-became-depressed/201312/electroconvulsive-therapy-in-children|title=Electroconvulsive Therapy in Children | Psychology Today|website=www.psychologytoday.com}}

In the mid-1990s in Texas, ECT was used in about one third of psychiatric facilities and given to about 1,650 people annually.{{cite journal |vauthors=Reid WH, Keller S, Leatherman M, Mason M |title=ECT in Texas: 19 months of mandatory reporting |journal=J Clin Psychiatry |volume=59 |issue=1 |pages=8–13 |date=January 1998 |pmid=9491059 |doi= 10.4088/JCP.v59n0103}}

Usage of ECT has since declined slightly; in 2000–01 ECT was given to about 1,500 people aged from 16 to 97 (in Texas it is illegal to give ECT to anyone under sixteen).Texas Department of State (2002) [http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhquality/ECT_Complete_Report_FY01.pdf Electroconvulsive therapy reports] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070810172506/http://www.dshs.state.tx.us/mhquality/ECT_Complete_Report_FY01.pdf |date=2007-08-10 }}. ECT is more commonly used in private psychiatric hospitals than in public hospitals, and minority patients are underrepresented in the ECT statistics.

In the United States, ECT is usually given three times a week; in the United Kingdom, it is usually given twice a week. Occasionally it is given on a daily basis. A course usually consists of 6–12 treatments, but may be more or fewer. Following a course of ECT some patients may be given continuation or maintenance ECT with further treatments at weekly, fortnightly or monthly intervals. A few psychiatrists in the US use multiple-monitored ECT (MMECT), where patients receive more than one treatment per anesthetic. Electroconvulsive therapy is not a required subject in US medical schools and not a required skill in psychiatric residency training. Privileging for ECT practice at institutions is a local option: no national certification standards are established, and no ECT-specific continuing training experiences are required of ECT practitioners.Fink, M. & Taylor, A.M. (2007) [http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/298/3/330 "Electroconvulsive therapy: Evidence and Challenges"] JAMA Vol. 298 No. 3, pp. 330–332.

In the UK in 1980, an estimated 50,000 people received ECT annually, with use declining steadily since then{{cite journal |vauthors=Pippard J, Ellam L |title=Electroconvulsion treatment in Great Britain 1980 |journal=Lancet |volume=2 |issue=8256 |pages=1160–1161 |year=1981 |pmid=6118592 |doi=10.1016/s0140-6736(81)90602-4 |s2cid=30499609 }} to about 12,000 per annum in 2002. It is still used in nearly all psychiatric hospitals, with a survey of ECT use from 2002 finding that 71 percent of patients were women and 46 percent were over 65 years of age. Eighty-one percent had a diagnosis of mood disorder; schizophrenia was the next most common diagnosis. Sixteen percent were treated without their consent.[https://web.archive.org/web/20110605142554/http://www.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Statistics/StatisticalWorkAreas/Statisticalhealthcare/DH_4000216 Electro convulsive therapy: survey covering the period from January 2002 to March 2002]. Department of Health. In 2003, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, a government body which was set up to standardize treatment throughout the National Health Service in England and Wales, issued guidance on the use of ECT. Its use was recommended "only to achieve rapid and short-term improvement of severe symptoms after an adequate trial of treatment options has proven ineffective and/or when the condition is considered to be potentially life-threatening in individuals with severe depressive illness, catatonia or a prolonged manic episode".NICE 2003. [http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=byID&o=11494 Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080908060011/http://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/index.jsp?action=byID&o=11494 |date=2008-09-08 }}. Retrieved on 2007-12-29.

The guidance received a mixed reception. It was welcomed by an editorial in the British Medical Journal{{cite journal | vauthors = Carney S, Geddes J | title = Electroconvulsive therapy | journal = BMJ | volume = 326 | issue = 7403 | pages = 1343–1344 | date = June 2003 | pmid = 12816798 | pmc = 1126234 | doi = 10.1136/bmj.326.7403.1343 }} but the Royal College of Psychiatrists launched an unsuccessful appeal.NICE (2003). [http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=62452 Appraisal of electroconvulsive therapy: decision of the appeal panel] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070521100602/http://www.nice.org.uk/page.aspx?o=62452 |date=2007-05-21 }}. London: NICE. The NICE guidance, as the British Medical Journal editorial points out, is only a policy statement and psychiatrists may deviate from it if they see fit. Adherence to standards has not been universal in the past. A survey of ECT use in 1980 found that more than half of ECT clinics failed to meet minimum standards set by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, with a later survey in 1998 finding that minimum standards were largely adhered to, but that two-thirds of clinics still fell short of current guidelines, particularly in the training and supervision of junior doctors involved in the procedure.{{cite journal | vauthors = Duffett R, Lelliott P | title = Auditing electroconvulsive therapy. The third cycle | journal = The British Journal of Psychiatry | volume = 172 | issue = 5 | pages = 401–405 | date = May 1998 | pmid = 9747401 | doi = 10.1192/bjp.172.5.401 | s2cid = 23584054 }} A voluntary accreditation scheme, ECTAS, was set up in 2004 by the Royal College, and {{as of|2017|lc=y}} the vast majority of ECT clinics in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have signed up.Royal College of Psychiatrists (2017). [https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/docs/default-source/improving-care/ccqi/quality-networks/electro-convulsive-therapy-clinics-(ectas)/ectas-dataset-report-2016-17.pdf?sfvrsn=8120becc_2] 2016–2017.

The Mental Health Act 2007 allows people to be treated against their will. This law has extra protections regarding ECT. A patient capable of making the decision can decline the treatment, and in that case treatment cannot be given unless it will save that patient's life or is immediately necessary to prevent deterioration of the patient's condition. A patient may not be capable of making the decision (they "lack capacity"), and in that situation ECT can be given if it is appropriate and also if there are no advance directives that prevent the use of ECT.{{cite web | url=http://www.mentalhealthlaw.co.uk/Additional_safeguards_for_ECT_introduced_in_new_s58A | title=Additional safeguards for ECT introduced in new s58A – Mental Health Law Online| date=23 April 2020}}

ECT was introduced in China in the early 1950s and while it was originally practiced without anesthesia, as of 2012 almost all procedures were conducted with it. As of 2012, there are approximately 400 ECT machines in China, and 150,000 ECT treatments are performed each year.{{cite journal |vauthors=Tang YL, etal | date = Dec 2012 | title = Electroconvulsive therapy in China: clinical practice and research on efficacy | journal = J ECT | volume = 28 | issue = 4| pages = 206–212 | pmid = 22801297 | doi=10.1097/YCT.0b013e31825957b1| s2cid = 2743272 }} Chinese national practice guidelines recommend ECT for the treatment of schizophrenia, depressive disorders, and bipolar disorder and in the Chinese literature, ECT is an effective treatment for schizophrenia and mood disorders.

Although the Chinese government stopped classifying homosexuality as an illness in 2001, electroconvulsive therapy is still used by some establishments as a form of "conversion therapy".{{cite news| vauthors = Graham-Harrison E, Connaire S |title=Chinese hospitals still offering gay 'cure' therapy, film reveals |url= https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/oct/08/chinese-hospitals-still-offering-gay-cure-therapy-documentary-reveals |work=The Guardian|date=8 October 2015}}{{cite magazine |url= https://time.com/4367925/china-lgbt-gay-conversion-therapy-rights/ |title= This Man Was Sectioned in China for Being Gay. Now He's Fighting Back |magazine = Time |author= Hannah Beech |date= June 13, 2016 |access-date= October 20, 2017}} Alleged Internet addiction (or general unruliness) in adolescents is also known to have been treated with ECT, sometimes without anesthesia, most notably by Yang Yongxin. The practice was banned in 2009 after a news story featuring Yang was published.{{Cite journal|title=China Reins in Wilder Impulses in Treatment of 'Internet Addiction' |journal=Science|date=2009-07-26 |doi=10.1126/science.324_1630 |pmid=19556477 |volume=324 |issue=5935 |pages=1630–1631| vauthors = Stone R | bibcode = 2009Sci...324.1630S |doi-access=free }}

Surveys of public opinion, the testimony of former patients, legal restrictions on the use of ECT and disputes as to the efficacy, ethics and adverse effects of ECT within the psychiatric and wider medical community indicate that the use of ECT remains controversial.{{cite journal | vauthors = Fisher P | title = Psychological factors related to the experience of and reaction to electroconvulsive therapy | journal = Journal of Mental Health | volume = 21 | issue = 6 | pages = 589–599 | date = December 2012 | pmid = 23216225 | doi = 10.3109/09638237.2012.734656 | s2cid = 42581352 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Philpot M, Treloar A, Gormley N, Gustafson L | title = Barriers to the use of electroconvulsive therapy in the elderly: a European survey | journal = European Psychiatry | volume = 17 | issue = 1 | pages = 41–45 | date = March 2002 | pmid = 11918992 | doi = 10.1016/S0924-9338(02)00620-X | s2cid = 24740314 }}{{cite book| vauthors = Whitaker R |title=Mad in America: bad science, bad medicine, and the enduring mistreatment of the mentally ill|year=2010|publisher=Basic Books|location=New York|isbn=978-0-465-02014-0|pages=102–106|edition=Rev. pbk.}}{{cite journal | vauthors = Golenkov A, Ungvari GS, Gazdag G | title = Public attitudes towards electroconvulsive therapy in the Chuvash Republic | journal = The International Journal of Social Psychiatry | volume = 58 | issue = 3 | pages = 289–294 | date = May 2012 | pmid = 21339235 | doi = 10.1177/0020764010394282 | s2cid = 6300979 }}{{cite web|last=Committee on Mental Health|title=Report on Electroconvulsive Therapy|url=http://assembly.state.ny.us/member_files/125/20020416/|publisher=New York State Assembly|access-date=8 March 2011|date=March 2002|archive-date=30 April 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110430201040/http://assembly.state.ny.us/member_files/125/20020416/|url-status=dead}}{{cite journal | vauthors = Melding P | title = Electroconvulsive therapy in New Zealand: terrifying or electrifying? | journal = The New Zealand Medical Journal | volume = 119 | issue = 1237 | pages = U2051 | date = July 2006 | pmid = 16862197 | url = http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/119-1237/2051/ | access-date = 2011-03-08 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110501071348/http://www.nzma.org.nz/journal/119-1237/2051/ | archive-date = 2011-05-01 }}{{synthesis inline|date=March 2025}} This is reflected{{synthesis inline|date=March 2025}} in the January 2011 vote by the FDA's Neurological Devices Advisory Panel to recommend that FDA maintain ECT devices in the Class III device category for high risk devices, except for patients with catatonia, major depressive disorder, and bipolar disorder.{{Cite press release|author=US Food and Drug Administration|date=2018-12-21|title=FDA In Brief: FDA takes action to ensure regulation of electroconvulsive therapy devices better protects patients, reflects current understanding of safety and effectiveness|url=https://www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-brief/fda-brief-fda-takes-action-ensure-regulation-electroconvulsive-therapy-devices-better-protects|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190914172813/https://www.fda.gov/news-events/fda-brief/fda-brief-fda-takes-action-ensure-regulation-electroconvulsive-therapy-devices-better-protects|url-status=dead|archive-date=September 14, 2019|language=en}} This may result in the manufacturers of such devices having to do controlled trials on their safety and efficacy for the first time.{{cite web| vauthors = Kellner CH |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120821012138/http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/electroconvulsive-therapy/content/article/10168/1897020 |archive-date=2012-08-21 |access-date=2012-10-25 |url=http://www.psychiatrictimes.com/electroconvulsive-therapy/content/article/10168/1897020 |title=The FDA Advisory Panel on the Reclassification of ECT Devices: Unjustified Ambivalence |date=2012-07-05 |website=Psychiatric Times |publisher=UBM Medica |url-status=dead }}Duff Wilson for the New York Times. January 28, 2011 [https://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/health/29shock.html F.D.A. Panel Is Split on Electroshock Risks] In justifying their position, panelists referred to the memory loss associated with ECT and the lack of long-term data.{{cite web| vauthors = Mechcatie E | title=FDA Regulation of ECT Devices in Transition|url=http://www.clinicalpsychiatrynews.com/specialty-focus/depression/single-article-page/fda-regulation-of-ect-devices-in-transition.html|website=Clinical Psychiatry News|access-date=8 March 2011}}

The World Health Organization (2005) advises that ECT should be used only with the informed consent of the patient (or their guardian if their incapacity to consent has been established).

In the US, this doctrine places a legal obligation on a doctor to make a patient aware of the reason for treatment, the risks and benefits of a proposed treatment, the risks and benefits of alternative treatment, and the risks and benefits of receiving no treatment. The patient is then given the opportunity to accept or reject the treatment. The form states how many treatments are recommended and also makes the patient aware that consent may be revoked and treatment discontinued at any time during a course of ECT. The US Surgeon General's Report on Mental Health states that patients should be warned that the benefits of ECT are short-lived without active continuation treatment in the form of drugs or further ECT, and that there may be some risk of permanent, severe memory loss after ECT. The report advises psychiatrists to involve patients in discussion, possibly with the aid of leaflets or videos, both before and during a course of ECT.

According to the US Surgeon General, involuntary treatment is uncommon in the US and is typically used only in cases of great extremity, and only when all other treatment options have been exhausted. The use of ECT is believed to be a potentially life-saving treatment.{{cite report |chapter-url=http://www.surgeongeneral.gov/library/mentalhealth/chapter4/sec3_1.html |title=Mental Health: A Report of the Surgeon General |publisher=Office of the Surgeon General (US) |chapter=Chapter 4 |access-date=2007-12-29}}

In one of the few jurisdictions where recent statistics on ECT usage are available, a national audit of ECT by the Scottish ECT Accreditation Network indicated that 77% of patients who received the treatment in 2008 were capable of giving informed consent.{{cite web|url=http://www.sean.org.uk/SEANReport2009.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110429104912/http://www.sean.org.uk/SEANReport2009.pdf |archive-date=2011-04-29 |url-status=live |title=The Scottish ECT Accreditation Network (SEÁN) Annual Report 2009 |year=2009 |website=Scottish ECT Accreditation Network |veditors=Fergusson G, etal |access-date=2010-05-24}}

In the UK, in order for consent to be valid it requires an explanation in "broad terms" of the nature of the procedure and its likely effects.Jones, R (1996) Mental Health Act Manual, 5th edition. London: Sweet and Maxwell, p. 225. One review from 2005 found that only about half of patients felt they were given sufficient information about ECT and its adverse effectsRose D, Wykes T, Bindman J, Fleischmann P (2005)[http://bjp.rcpsych.org/cgi/content/abstract/186/1/54 "Information, consent and perceived coercion: patients' perspectives on electroconvulsive therapy"]. British Journal of Psychiatry 186:54–59. and another survey found that about fifty percent of psychiatrists and nurses agreed with them.{{cite journal | doi = 10.1080/09638230124779 | vauthors = Lutchman RD | year = 2001 | title = Mental health professionals' attitudes towards and knowledge of electroconvulsive therapy | journal = Journal of Mental Health | volume = 10 | issue = 20| pages = 141–150 | s2cid = 218906587 | display-authors= etal }}

A 2005 study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry described patients' perspectives on the adequacy of informed consent before ECT. The study found that "About half (45–55%) of patients reported they were given an adequate explanation of ECT, implying a similar percentage felt they were not." The authors also stated:

{{Blockquote|sign=|source=|Approximately a third did not feel they had freely consented to ECT even when they had signed a consent form. The proportion who feel they did not freely choose the treatment has actually increased over time. The same themes arise whether the patient had received treatment a year ago or 30 years ago. Neither current nor proposed safeguards for patients are sufficient to ensure informed consent with respect to ECT, at least in England and Wales.}}

Procedures for involuntary ECT vary from country to country depending on local mental health laws.

In most states in the US, a judicial order following a formal hearing is needed before a patient can be forced to undergo involuntary ECT. However, ECT can also be involuntarily administered in situations with less immediate danger. Suicidal intent is a common justification for its involuntary use, especially when other treatments are ineffective.

In 2007, a psychiatric patient in the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center in New York, given the pseudonym of Simone D., won a court ruling which set aside a two-year-old court order to give her electroshock treatment against her will.{{cite web |url= http://www.mindfreedom.org/kb/mental-health-abuse/electroshock/simone-d |title= MindFreedom, article title Another victory against forced electroshock. Simone D. wins!|work=MFIPortal |date= 7 July 2007|access-date=6 October 2014}}

Until 2007 in England and Wales, the Mental Health Act 1983 allowed the use of ECT on detained patients whether or not they had capacity to consent to it. However, following amendments which took effect in 2007, ECT may not generally be given to a patient who has capacity and refuses it, irrespective of his or her detention under the Act.[http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/mental_health_act_1983_201107084458_0.pdf The Mental Health Act 1983 (updated version)] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111226033633/http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/mental_health_act_1983_201107084458_0.pdf |date=December 26, 2011 }} Part IV, Section 58. Care Quality Commission In fact, even if a patient is deemed to lack capacity, if they made a valid advance decision refusing ECT then they should not be given it; and even if they do not have an advance decision, the psychiatrist must obtain an independent second opinion (which is also the case if the patient is under age of consent).Care Quality Commission (2010) [http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/documents/20120821_mha_ect_booklet_final.pdf ECT: Your rights about consent to treatment] However, there is an exception regardless of consent and capacity; under Section 62 of the Act, if the treating psychiatrist says the need for treatment is urgent they may start a course of ECT without authorization.[http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20140509205937/http://www.cqc.org.uk/sites/default/files/media/documents/20120821_mha_ect_booklet_final.pdf The Mental Health Act 1983 (updated version)] Part IV, Section 62. Care Quality Commission From 2003 to 2005, about 2,000 people a year in England and Wales were treated without their consent under the Mental Health Act.The Mental Health Act Commission (2005) In Place of Fear? eleventh biennial report, 2003–2005, 236. The Stationery Office. Concerns have been raised by the official regulator that psychiatrists are too readily assuming that patients have the capacity to consent to their treatments, and that there is a worrying lack of independent advocacy.{{cite web | url=http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/cqc-says-care-people-treated-under-mental-health-act-still-needs-improve | title=CQC says care for people treated under the Mental Health Act still needs to improve | publisher=Care Quality Commission | date=8 December 2011 | url-status=live | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150521120334/http://www.cqc.org.uk/content/cqc-says-care-people-treated-under-mental-health-act-still-needs-improve | archive-date=21 May 2015 }} In Scotland, the Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003 also gives patients with capacity the right to refuse ECT.The Mental Health (Care and Treatment) (Scotland) Act 2003, Part 16, sections 237–239.

In the US, ECT devices came into existence prior to medical devices being regulated by the Food and Drug Administration. In 1976, the Medical Device Regulation Act required the FDA to retrospectively review already existing devices, classify them, and determine whether clinical trials were needed to prove efficacy and safety. The FDA initially classified the devices used to administer ECT as Class III medical devices. In 2014, the American Psychiatric Association petitioned the FDA to reclassify ECT devices from Class III (high-risk) to Class II (medium-risk). A similar reclassification proposal in 2010 did not pass.{{cite web| vauthors = Levin S, Binder R |title=Time Is Now to Support the ECT Reclassification Effort|url=https://www.psychiatry.org/news-room/apa-blogs/apa-blog/2016/01/time-is-now-to-support-the-ect-reclassification-effort|website=American Psychiatric Association|access-date=23 April 2017}} In 2018, the FDA re-classified ECT devices as Class II devices when used to treat catatonia or a severe major depressive episode associated with major depressive disorder or bipolar disorder.

In Western Australia, ECT has been heavily restricted since 2014, after a bill passed with bipartisan support introducing restrictions on ECT, which were welcomed by mental health experts.{{who|date=April 2025}}{{cn|date=April 2025}} Children under 14 are prohibited from receiving ECT, while those aged 14 to 18 must have informed consent approval from the Mental Health Tribunal. The law imposes a $15,000 fine on anyone who performs ECT on a child under the age of 14.{{cite news | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-10-17/mental-health-bill-passes-wa-parliament/5822874 | title=Electroshock therapy on under-14s banned in WA after law passes | newspaper=ABC News | date=17 October 2014 }}

Similarly, ECT is also banned on children under the age of 12 in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT).{{cite web | url=https://cchr.org.au/brutal-rise-in-electroshock | title=Brutal Rise in Electroshock | date=4 December 2017 }}

Many mental health facilities offer ECT for specific diagnoses, such as chronic depression, mania, catatonia and schizophrenia. However, ECT is often only used as a treatment of last resort.{{cite web |title=Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) Service {{!}} Treatment at McLean Hospital |url=https://www.mcleanhospital.org/treatment/ect-service |website=www.mcleanhospital.org}} To be considered for ECT, often testing such as an EKG and lab tests are required, in addition to a physical and neurological exam. Certain medications and conditions, such as cardiac conditions or hypertension, may disqualify a patient from ECT. Patients should give proper informed consent before ECT is performed. In the United States, ECT is performed under general anesthesia. Both trained health professionals with experience in ECT administration as well as a specifically trained and certified anesthesiologist should administer the procedure and anesthesia respectively.{{cite web |title=Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) |url=https://www.mhanational.org/ect#:~:text=Because%20of%20the%20concern%20about,ECT%20in%20severely%20depressed%20patients. |website=Mental Health America |language=en}}

A questionnaire survey of 379 members of the general public in Australia indicated that more than 60% of respondents had some knowledge about the main aspects of ECT. Participants were generally opposed to the use of ECT on depressed individuals with psychosocial issues, on children, and on involuntary patients. Public perceptions of ECT were found to be mainly negative.{{cite journal | vauthors = Teh SP, Helmes E, Drake DG | title = A Western Australian survey on public attitudes toward and knowledge of electroconvulsive therapy | journal = The International Journal of Social Psychiatry | volume = 53 | issue = 3 | pages = 247–273 | date = May 2007 | pmid = 17569409 | doi = 10.1177/0020764006074522 | s2cid = 40147979 }}{{primary source inline|date=April 2025}} A sample of the general public, medical students, and psychiatry trainees in the United Kingdom found that the psychiatry trainees were more knowledgeable and had more favorable opinions of ECT than did the other groups.{{cite journal | vauthors = McFarquhar TF, Thompson J | title = Knowledge and attitudes regarding electroconvulsive therapy among medical students and the general public | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 24 | issue = 4 | pages = 244–253 | date = December 2008 | pmid = 18648319 | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0b013e318168be4a | s2cid = 11334694 }}{{primary source inline|date=April 2025}} More members of the general public believed that ECT was used for control or punishment purposes than medical students or psychiatry trainees.{{primary source inline|date=April 2025}}

{{Main|List of people who have undergone electroconvulsive therapy}}

• Ernest Hemingway, an American author, died by suicide in 1961 half a year after ECT treatment at the Mayo Clinic in 1960.Meyers, Jeffrey. (1985). Hemingway: A Biography. New York: Macmillan, pp 547–550. {{ISBN|978-0-333-42126-0}}. He is reported to have said to his biographer, "Well, what is the sense of ruining my head and erasing my memory, which is my capital, and putting me out of business? It was a brilliant cure but we lost the patient."A. E. Hotchner, Papa Hemingway: A Personal Memoir, {{ISBN|0786705922}}; p. 280 However, the same biographer (Hotchner, 1966) and also a second biographer (Lynn, 1987) emphasized - according to a review from 2008 - "that Hemingway’s serious mental illness and plans for suicide significantly predated his ECT treatments."{{cite journal| author=Hirshbein L, Sarvananda S| title=History, power, and electricity: American popular magazine accounts of electroconvulsive therapy, 1940-2005. | journal=J Hist Behav Sci | year= 2008 | volume= 44 | issue= 1 | pages= 1–18 | pmid=18196545 | doi=10.1002/jhbs.20283 | pmc= | hdl=2027.42/57903 | url=https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/57903/20283_ftp.pdf }}
• Robert Pirsig had a nervous breakdown and spent time in and out of psychiatric hospitals between 1961 and 1963.{{Cite web|url=https://allaboutheaven.org/sources/pirsig-robert-m/190|title=All About Heaven \e|website=allaboutheaven.org|access-date=2019-12-30}} He was diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia and clinical depression as a result of an evaluation conducted by psychoanalysts, and was treated with electroconvulsive therapy on numerous occasions,{{Cite book|title=Summary and Analysis of Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values|last=Worth Books|publisher=Open Road Media|year=2017|isbn=978-1-5040-4641-1}} a treatment he discusses in his novel, Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.{{cite journal | vauthors = Healy D, Charlton BG | title = Electroshock in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance--fictional, not factual | journal = Medical Hypotheses | volume = 72 | issue = 5 | pages = 485–486 | date = May 2009 | pmid = 19201545 | doi = 10.1016/j.mehy.2008.12.026 }}
• Thomas Eagleton, United States Senator from Missouri, was dropped from the Democratic ticket in the 1972 United States Presidential Election as the party's vice presidential candidate after it was revealed that he had received electroshock treatment in the past for depression.{{Cite web |title=50 years ago: Sen.Thomas Eagleton discloses electric shock treatments and changes a presidential campaign |url=https://www.stltoday.com/news/archives/50-years-ago-sen-thomas-eagleton-discloses-electric-shock-treatments-and-changes-a-presidential-campaign/article_09e6dadc-7531-5553-8e9b-e3f07870fea1.html |access-date=2023-02-27 |website=STLtoday.com |language=en}} Presidential nominee George McGovern replaced him with Sargent Shriver, and later went on to lose by a landslide to Richard Nixon.
• American surgeon and award-winning author Sherwin B. Nuland is another notable person who has undergone ECT.{{cite web|url=https://www.ted.com/talks/sherwin_nuland_on_electroshock_therapy/transcript?language=en |title=Sherwin Nuland: How electroshock therapy changed me | Talk Subtitles and Transcript |date=30 October 2007 |publisher=TED.com |access-date=2015-05-19}} In his 40s, his depression became so severe that he had to be institutionalized. After exhausting all treatment options, a young resident assigned to his case suggested ECT, which was successful.{{Cite news | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/05/us/sherwin-b-nuland-author-who-challenged-concept-of-dignified-death-dies-at-83.html | title=Sherwin B. Nuland, Author of 'How We Die,' is Dead at 83| newspaper=The New York Times| date=2014-03-04| vauthors = Gellene D }}
• Author David Foster Wallace also received ECT for many years, beginning as a teenager, before his suicide at age 46.{{cite magazine | title = The Lost Years & Last Days of David Foster Wallace | magazine = Rolling Stone |author = Lipsky, Dave |date = October 30, 2008 | url = https://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638511/the_lost_years__last_days_of_david_foster_wallace | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090503103755/http://www.rollingstone.com/news/story/23638511/the_lost_years__last_days_of_david_foster_wallace| archive-date = May 3, 2009| url-status = dead | access-date = June 5, 2017}}
• New Zealand author Janet Frame experienced both insulin coma therapy and ECT (but without the use of anesthesia or muscle relaxants).{{cite journal | vauthors = Lim X, Galletly C | title = "To suit the occasion, I wore my schizophrenic fancy dress"¹ - the life of Janet Frame | journal = Australasian Psychiatry | volume = 27 | issue = 5 | pages = 469–471 | date = October 2019 | pmid = 30945930 | doi = 10.1177/1039856219839489 | s2cid = 93000402 }} She wrote about this in her autobiography, An Angel at My Table (1984), which was later adapted into a film (1990).{{cite news |title=Review/Film; 3 Novels Are Adapted For 'Angel at My Table' |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/05/21/movies/review-film-3-novels-are-adapted-for-angel-at-my-table.html |access-date=10 July 2020 |work=The New York Times |date=21 May 1991 |at=Section C, p. 15}}
• American actor Carrie Fisher wrote about her experience with memory loss after ECT treatments in her memoir Wishful Drinking.{{Cite web|title=Wishful Drinking with Carrie Fisher|url=https://www.npr.org/transcripts/98339223|website=NPR|date=16 December 2008 }}
• Lou Reed had ECT as a teenager to "cure" his homosexuality.{{Cite web |last=Weiner |first=Jeff |date=2016-04-10 |title=Lou Reed's Sister Sets the Record Straight About His Childhood |url=https://medium.com/cuepoint/a-family-in-peril-lou-reed-s-sister-sets-the-record-straight-about-his-childhood-20e8399f84a3 |access-date=2023-08-17 |website=Cuepoint |language=en}} He later claimed it had induced multiple personality disorder, and resulted in his hatred of psychiatrists.{{Cite book |last1=McNeil |first1=Legs |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mkG7Y6_J7pUC |title=Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk |last2=McCain |first2=Gillian |date=2006 |publisher=Grove Press |isbn=978-0-8021-4264-1 |language=en}} After Reed's death, his sister denied the ECT treatments were intended to suppress his "homosexual urges", asserting that their parents were not homophobic but had been told by his doctors that ECT was necessary to treat Reed's mental and behavioral issues.
• On October 31, 2024, a Chinese transgender woman was approved by Changli county people’s court in Qinhuangdao to receive 60,000 yuan (£6,552) in compensation from a hospital that gave her electroshock conversion treatment against her will. This was the first time any transgender person in China won a legal challenge against the use of electroshock conversion treatment.{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/nov/21/transgender-woman-wins-record-payout-in-china-after-electroshock-treatment|title=Transgender woman wins record payout in China after electroshock treatment|first1=Amy|last1=Hawkins|work=The Guardian |date=November 21, 2024}}

Electroconvulsive therapy has been depicted in fiction, including fictional works partly based on true experiences. These include Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, Ken Loach's film Family Life, and Ken Kesey's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Kesey's novel is a direct product of his time working the graveyard shift as an orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California.{{Cite book |author=Kellner |first=C.H. |title=Literature, Neurology, and Neuroscience: Neurological and Psychiatric Disorders |chapter=Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) in Literature |journal=Prog. Brain Res. |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-444-63364-4 |series=Progress in Brain Research |volume=206 |pages=219–228 |doi=10.1016/B978-0-444-63364-4.00029-6 |pmid=24290484}}{{cite book |last1=Mitchell |first1=David T. |last2=Snyder |first2=Sharon L. |title=Narrative Prosthesis: Disability and the Dependencies of Discourse |date=2000 |publisher=University of Michigan Press |isbn=978-0-472-06748-0 |page=174 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BwyUAwAAQBAJ&pg=PA174 |language=en}}

Two analyses of large numbers of films using ECT scenes found that almost all presented fictional settings that were unrelated to real treatment routines and were apparently aimed at stigmatizing ECT as a tool of repression and of mind and behavior control - having effects of memory-erosion, pain and damage.{{cite journal | vauthors = Sienaert P | title = Based on a True Story? The Portrayal of ECT in International Movies and Television Programs | journal = Brain Stimulation | volume = 9 | issue = 6 | pages = 882–891 | year = 2016 | pmid = 27522170 | pmc = | doi = 10.1016/j.brs.2016.07.005 | s2cid = 206356310 }}{{cite journal | vauthors = Matthews AM, Rosenquist PB, McCall WV | title = Representations of ECT in English-Language Film and Television in the New Millennium | journal = The Journal of ECT | volume = 32 | issue = 3 | pages = 187–191 | date = September 2016 | pmid = 27008331 | pmc = | doi = 10.1097/YCT.0000000000000312 | s2cid = 206144447 }}

The song “The Mind Electric” by Miracle Musical is typically interpreted as depicting someone undergoing ECT.{{Cite web |date=2024-03-16 |title=Electroconvulsive Therapy Is Torture |url=https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ElectroconvulsiveTherapyIsTorture |access-date=2024-03-16 |website=TV Tropes}}

In the television series "Mr Bates vs The Post Office", which is based on true events, the character of Saman Kaur receives ECT following a deep depression and attempted suicide.{{cite web |title=The Real People and Cast of Mr Bates vs The Post Office |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/specialfeatures/the-real-people-and-cast-of-mr-bates-vs-the-post-office/ |website=Masterpiece |publisher=PBS |access-date=8 May 2024}}

{{Portal|Psychiatry}}

• Neurostimulation
• Neurotherapy
• Psychosurgery
• Magnetic seizure therapy

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Commons category|Electroconvulsive therapy}}

• [https://web.archive.org/web/20161104141708/https://www.psychiatry.org/file%20library/about-apa/organization-documents-policies/policies/position-2015-electroconvulsive-therapy.pdf Position Statement on Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) 2015] – from the American Psychiatric Association.
• [https://www.rcpsych.ac.uk/mental-health/treatments-and-wellbeing/ect ECT] – information from mental health charity The Royal College of Psychiatrists

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Electroconvulsive Therapy}}

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