Etc Is It Safe?

Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) is it Safe?

Is Electroconvulsive Therapy formally known as electroshock therapy, a safe and effective way to alleviate symptoms of mental illness? "After 60 years of use, ECT is still the most controversial psychiatric treatment available". ("About ECT. National mental health Association" Much of the controversy surrounding ECT revolves around its effectiveness verses the side effects. During the last few decades, researchers have been attempting to identify how and why the treatment works and the dangers. Although ECT is dangerous, however it is the most effective way to treat some mental disorders.

ECT was first introduced as a treatment for severe cases of psychopathology in the 1930's. The process consists of administering varying jolts of electricity to the patient, jolts which interfere with the body's natural electrical transmissions and disrupt the patient's behavior. Early use of this therapy was extremely primitive, and electroshock fell out of favor with both the medical community and the general public. More recent research into the functioning of the brain has renewed interest in ECT. It is administered to an estimated 100,000 patients a year, primarily in general hospital psychiatric units. "The risk of respiratory or cardiac arrest resulting in death during ECT is (less than 1 in 1,000 cases)". ("The safety of ECT: John Bennett). That number is similar to the risk taken for any other surgical operation using anesthesia. During the process the patient is attached to an electroencephalogram (EEG) machine which detects brain wave activities. The EEG machine is used by the doctors to read and detect any complications, thus making the therapy safer.