Electroshock therapy (ECT) is a medical procedure used to treat mental illness. It consists of short bursts of electricity administered to the patient's brain. The treatment is also known as electroconvulsive therapy and has been in existence for around 70 years. Electroshock therapy is commonly used to treat severe depression when antidepressant medications have been of no use.

Electroshock therapy was discovered in 1938 by Italian neurologist Ugo Cerletti. Cerletti observed that pigs about to be slaughtered were electrocuted into unconsciousness in order to make the process easier. Cerletti concluded that this procedure could be applied to patients who suffered from mental illness.

Only a year after Cerletti made this discovery, electroshock therapy was introduced into the United States. During the next three decades, hundreds of thousands of patients were treated with electroshock therapy. The treatment was widely used for a variety of conditions, including depression, schizophrenia and even homosexuality.

By the 1960s, electroshock therapy had begun to find its credibility as a treatment seriously questioned. Psychotropic medications had become widely used as a treatment for mental illness. Antidepressants were seen as a more humane form of treatment than pumping electricity through the brain.

However, over the past 20 years, electroshock therapy has once again gained popularity as a treatment. The promising results of electroshock therapy when antidepressants have failed have prompted new interest in the treatment. According to research undertaken by the American Psychiatric Association (APA), electroshock therapy has around a 30% higher rate of success in treating depression than medications.

Statistics from the APA have shown that a patient suffering from severe depression can be brought back to normal health in as little as three weeks with the use of electroshock therapy. An APA report from 1990 claims that electroshock therapy is the safest and most effective treatment for severe depression. In 1998, 100,000 shock treatments were performed in America.

Electroshock therapy has come a long way from the procedures used in the early days. However, the image of Jack Nicholson's character in the film One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest is still prevalent in many people's minds. Peter Bregen, a psychiatrist and author, is a very vocal opponent of ECT. He claims that undergoing ECT is similar to playing Russian roulette with the brain. Proven side effects of ECT include memory loss, headaches, muscle pain and nausea.

The choice to use electroshock therapy lies with the individual. ECT can only be performed with the consent of the patient. It cannot be forced upon someone as a treatment, and written consent must be given by the patient or a court-appointed guardian.