Electroconvulsive therapy: calls to have it suspended ignore the evidence

Around 2,500 people in England receive electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) every year. This is a last resort treatment, used to help alleviate severe depression in people who have failed to respond to other treatments. ECT is administered by passing a small electrical current around the head of an anaesthetised person to induce a seizure.

Many misunderstandings persist about ECT’s effectiveness and safety. Part of this is due to negative…

© La Conversation - jeudi 10 février 2022