Electroconvulsive therapy works well.

The Academy Award-winning motion picture, "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest," graphically introduced the American public to a useful tool in psychiatric treatment. However, that movie has done more to hurt the use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) than promote it. In the film, Jack Nicholson's character is abused by unscrupulous mental institution employees who use ECT to control him.

ECT, or "shock treatment," as it is known by many, actually is a safe and effective method for the treatment of several psychiatric disorders, maintains Louise Dabiri, clinical assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. "It's an alternative to medication or therapy for treatment of severe mental illnesses, the most common being depression. It's also useful in treatment of some cases of schizophrenia and bipolar disorders, also known as manic-depressive illness."

First utilized in Italy in the late 1930s, ECT involves the use of brief, controlled electrical currents to produce a seizure within the brain. This series of seizures is believed to bring about certain biochemical changes that can cause symptoms to diminish or even disappear. A series of six to 12 treatments, given at a rate of three per week, is required to produce a therapeutic effect--although it can vary from person to...