lectroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is an important treatment in psychiatry; despite the myth that it is a barbaric and outdated practice, it is as relevant today as it was over six decades ago, when it was first introduced. This is because ECT can be life-saving in catatonic, suicidal, or otherwise highly disturbed patients; because it is of exceptional benefit in patients with psychotic depression; and because it can be both therapeutic and prophylactic in patients who do not respond to antidepressant or antipsychotic drugs.