Impact of the antipsychiatry movement on the revival of electroconvulsive therapy in the United States

Abstract

In spite of its acknowledged efficacy and safety in the treatment of affective and psychotic illnesses, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) remains a controversial treatment, with limited use mainly in academic and private hospitals. The controversy results from attack by the antipsychiatry movement, and from a lack of support by mental health professionals who have not come to terms with their ambivalence and lack of understanding of the ECT process. The history of the past 20 years is reviewed.