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Abstract

Objective: The aim of this paper is to consider electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the 21st century and whether it should be a treatment of last resort from the perspective of someone who has received the treatment in recent years.

Conclusion: It seems that informed consent, the introduction of advance directives and the improved delivery of ECT have done little to ease people's fear, with a lot of people still believing ECT to be an extreme form of treatment and only a last resort option. The idea of any treatment being considered ‘last resort’ in mental health care gives the impression that it is the most radical and worst treatment available – thus we leave it until last to try. Yet for many people, including myself, the treatment is a valid and preferred option with minimal side effects.

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ECT: Shocked Beyond Belief

Abstract

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