Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a controversial therapy used to treat certain mental illnesses such as major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, depressed bipolar disorder, manic excitement, and catatonia.[1] These disorders are difficult to live with and often very difficult to treat, leaving individuals suffering for long periods of time. In general, ECT is not looked at as a first line approach to treating a mental disorder, but rather a last resort treatment when medications such as antidepressants are not helpful in reducing the clinical manifestations.
"Electroconvulsive therapy entails deliberately inducing a modified generalized seizure under medically-controlled conditions to obtain a therapeutic effect."[1] The therapeutic effect being reduced clinical manifestations of one's mental disorder, therefore leading to less suffering. “ECT has been shown through various research trials to cause significant physiological and chemical changes at a molecular level of the brain; however, it is thought that the sustainability of ECT is threatened due to associated stigma and poor impression of the treatment itself”.[2]