electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

Definition electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)

electroconvulsive therapy (ECT): electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) a treatment for severe depression and occasionally for schizophrenia and mania. A convulsion is produced by passing an electric current through the brain. The convulsion is modified by giving a *muscle relaxant drusg and an *anaesthetic, so that in fact only a few muscle twitches are produced. The means by which ECT acts is not yet known. THe procedure can also produce confusion, loss of memory, and headache, which almost always pass off within a few hours. These side-effects are reduced by unilateral treatment, in which the current is passed only through the nondominant hemisphere of the brain.