Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) (1)

Doctor Jon Lieberman describes the experience of receiving electroconvulsive therapy - a painless procedure lasting a few seconds.

I don’t know the history of it, the first discovery of ECT, but I can say it’s not a relatively new treatment; it’s been known to psychiatry for quite some time. It’s nothing at all these days like what is seen in ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.’ To receive ECT, patients are 1) sedated, and 2) administered a muscle relaxant. Electrodes are strategically placed on the scalp, and an electric pulse is administered. The whole treatment might last 20 seconds - the person receiving ECT is totally unaware of the experience.