Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical procedure used to treat severe psychiatric and neurological illnesses. It is highly effective, with up to a 60-90% success rate in severely depressed patients. ECT has a long history which dates back to 1938, though early forms of the treatment bear little resemblance to modern ECT. With advances in both anesthesia and technology, ECT today is very safe; the risk of injury or death is extremely low (mortality less than 1 per 70,000 treatments), far below the risk of childbirth.  Read more...