electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment that causes a generalized seizure by passing electrical current through the brain. ECT is often used as an intervention for mental disorders when other treatments are inadequate. Conditions responsive to ECT include major depressive disorder, mania, and catatonia.

ECT evolved from early seizure-inducing treatments and 18th–19th century electrical experiments into a formal procedure in the 1930s, later becoming widely used in the 1940s–50s. It then declined in use due to safety concerns and negative public perception. With the introduction of anesthesia, muscle relaxants, and improved techniques, it became safer and more regulated, leading to its modern use as an effective treatment for severe, treatment-resistant psychiatric conditions.