Electroconvulsive Therapy — A Current Perspective

ELECTROCONVULSIVE therapy has become a national issue. Attacks on it have appeared in movies and television documentaries, as well as in the popular and professional press.1 , 2 These criticisms have resulted in legislation restricting its use in several states and, more recently, in an attempt to ban its use altogether in Berkeley, California. Because of growing public concern, physicians are likely to be consulted by the public about the treatment; thus, it is surprising that a current review of the subject is not available in a major general medical journal. A considerable body of research has been carried out on electroconvulsive . . .