Electroconvulsive Therapy

Written by a prominent clinician-researcher, this volume provides a comprehensive, up-to-date account of the biology and clinical use of electroconvulsive therapy. Dr. Abrams reviews the evidence of ECT's effectiveness and discusses the factors involved in predicting a patient's response to it. The physiological mechanisms, as they are currently understood, and neurochemical aspects of ECT are also described. Separate chapters address special considerations such as high-risk patients and the effect of ECT on memory and cognitive functioning. Techniques of administration as well as technical and theoretical concerns are reviewed. A final chapter considers patients' attitudes toward ECT and legal and informed consent issues. Readership; psychiatrists, psychiatric nurses, and experimental neuropsychologists. See above.