Editorial

Electroconvulsive Therapy—An Outdated Treatment, or One Whose Time Has Come?

Authors: James N. Kimball, MD

Abstract

Depression, bipolar disorder, and other mental illnesses are being increasingly recognized in today’s medicine, with millions of people suffering from them. It is well known that people with mental illness utilize healthcare services more frequently than those without mental illness,1 costing millions of dollars per year in healthcare related expenditures.2 As a result, nonpsychiatrists are being called on to take on the burden of treatment, and primary care is increasingly being called the “de facto mental heath system.”3 However, although safe and effective somatic treatments are available, the field of medicine still has a long way to go in fully combating the suffering of mental illness. It is therefore imperative that physicians who see patients with mental illness have at least basic awareness of safe and effective treatments.

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