Bring electric shocks back for depression say doctors

DOCTORS have called for the return of electric ‘shock therapy’ as a treatment for severe depression.

They say the modern form – known as electroconvulsive therapy or ECT – should be used after anti-depressants and counselling have failed.

Electric shock therapy was widely used to treat mental health disorders from the 1940s to the 1970s.

It was based on the principle that inducing seizures could help ‘reset’ the brain, disrupting the pathways which caused depression. But it was phased out after proving controversial as it was often carried out without anaesthetic or without patients’ consent. Violent seizures could also cause patients to break bones.

The modern treatment involves sending much milder electric impulses through the brains of patients under anaesthetic and does not cause violent convulsions.

Researchers said ECT was cost effective and should be considered as the next treatment option if a course of both medication and therapy have failed to help patients with depression.

The study by medics at the University of Michigan, published in the journal JAMA Psychiatry, analysed seven different treatment options, using data from existing studies on patients with treatment-resistant depression.

It found that trying multiple different medications was less likely to help with depression than moving straight on to ECT once one round of medication and one of therapy had failed.

‘Milder impulses’