Electric Convulsion Treatment in Patients Over 60

In view of the success of E.C.T. in depressive states of the middle-aged it seemed worth while to take the risk of extending its benefit to patients over 60, whose clinical picture often differs very little from that of the next younger age-group. Since January, 1941, when E.C.T. was first used in the Crichton Royal, an increasing number of such patients has been treated. It is proposed to give a short, retrospective survey of these cases in order to assess if the therapy has justified itself by its results, and to find out the dangers and the limits of its application. Among over 500 patients treated were 76 over 60, 62 females and 14 males, with the following age distribution: