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electroconvulsive therapy

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electroconvulsive therapy

[i¦lek·trō·kən¦vəl·səv ′ther·ə·pē]
(psychology)
The technique of eliciting convulsions by applying an electric current through the brain of a human or an experimental animal for a brief period by means of electrodes that are placed on the head; sometimes used as a treatment for severe mental depression.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific & Technical Terms, 6E, Copyright © 2003 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
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References in periodicals archive
Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo Following Electroconvulsive Therapy. Erciyes Med J 2019; 41(2): 212-4.
Physiological effects of electroconvulsive therapy and transcranial magnetic stimulation in major depression.
Electroconvulsive therapy was intro-duced in 1938 and has been in use for almost 75 years.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been used for a long time with successful response and remission rates; 80-90% of patients experience an improvement, and the efficacy of ECT has been established to be between 60% and 90% regarding acute response in treatment-resistant depression (3,4,5,6,7).
Van Der Mast, "Electroconvulsive therapy for catatonia: treatment characteristics and outcomes in 27 patients," The Journal of ECT, vol.
Adhikari, "Electroconvulsive therapy in first episode schizophrenia--experiences from Nepal," Journal of Psychiatrists' Association of Nepal, vol.
Then there's Martin Ling, formerly the manager at Leyton Orient and Torquay, who was so badly affected by depression that he underwent a course of electroconvulsive therapy. Such is the degree of job insecurity, confirmed here by Shaun Derry and, movingly, by Adie Boothroyd, that depression is unusually common among managers.
However, his manic symptoms persisted so, after discussion among treatment staff, it was decided to start a course of modified electroconvulsive therapy (MECT) because, based on the report of the patient and family member, he had been successfully treated with MECT at a local hospital 6 years previously.
Q My friend's daughter is undergoing electroconvulsive therapy for her severe depression.
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an effective treatment for a variety of psychiatric disorders (Mankad, Beyer, Weiner, & Krystal, 2010).
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