The use of electroconvulsive shock as a therapeutic
procedure for psychiatric disorders. The technique consists of applying weak
electric current (20-30 milliamps) to the temperofrontal region of the skull
until a grand mal seizure results. The patient is sedated using an
ultra-short-acting barbiturate, and a muscle relaxant is administered to
minimize the intensity of the muscular reactions. ECT produces a period of
drowsiness, temporary confusion, and disorientation, and a variety of memory
deficits, some of which the patient recovers over time, although gaps may remain
indefinitely. In the past there have been rigorous protests over the
uncontrolled and unwarranted use of ECT, particularly in many large,
understaffed mental institutions where its primary function is to produce
docility in patients when they are threatened with it. While it has in the past
been seen as a treatment of last resort for depressed people who do not respond
to drug therapy, it is recently regaining some respectability.
