ECT: shocked beyond belief.

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.