Current issues in electroconvulsive therapy

The death of electroconvulsive therapy

In Italy, where it began more than 62 years ago, ECT has almost been abolished. In some countries, however, ECT is still used inappropriately, particularly in elderly patients. There is no medical, moral, or legal justification for ECT, and the new requirements of modern psychiatric practice can all be achieved without it. Like prefrontal lobotomy and all previous shock treatments, ECT is nonviable. The death of ECT will help promote mental health and put the treatment where it belongs--in the archaeology of science.