How I Owe My Life to ECT: By a Practicing Psychiatrist

The author (writing anonymously) discuses his own affective disorder and subsequent treatment with several courses of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), without which he believes he would have been another suicide statistic. He speaks highly of ECT but acknowledges its controversial nature. The importance of appropriate candidates is emphasized, since patients with character and/or personality disorders do not respond well to ECT.