Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), formerly known as electroshock therapy, is a psychiatric treatment in which strong seizures are electrically induced in patients, After treatment, by an unknown mechanism, it provides relief from some severe mental disorders - especially Major Depressive Disorderplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigMajor Depressive Disorder
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), also known simply as 'depression', is a mental disorder characterized by at least two weeks of pervasive low mood.
Current estimates are that severe depression affects around 2% of the global population at any given time, currently more than 150 million. The majority of cases don't appear to have an obvious personal and/or societal cause., catatonia, etc.
The therapy has been in use since 1938, and although it can provide long term relief (typically several months) in about half of patients treated, the side effects (memory loss, cognitive impairment) can be very severe - and in some cases permanent.
"Despite decades of research, the exact mechanism of action of ECT remains elusive. Neuroimaging studies in people who have had ECT, investigating differences between responders and nonresponders, and people who relapse, find that responders have anticonvulsant effects mostly in the frontal lobes, which corresponds to immediate responses, and neurotrophic effects primarily in the medial temporal lobe."
Source : Wikipedia
Also see : Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulationplugin-autotooltip__plain plugin-autotooltip_bigCranial Electrotherapy Stimulation
Cranial Electrotherapy Stimulation (a.k.a. cranial-electro stimulation and transcranial electrotherapy) is the application of small electrical alternating currents (e.g.1mA) to the brain, externally, via electrodes on the scalp. It has been in use since the late 1700s.