Electroconvulsive therapy

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), or "shock treatment," has an unsavory reputation, mostly as a result of movies like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and The Snake Pit. And in fact, in the early days, it was a brutal procedure. But today, new, milder techniques have made wild seizures, bitten tongues, and broken bones largely a thing of the past.

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Basically, the treatment involves sedating a patient, then placing electrodes at certain points on the head and administering a jolt of electricity. The electric current seems to reconfigure the synaptic responses in the brain, and, while it may result in some short-term memory loss--among other side effects--it can be very effective in treating depression. The use of ECT is on the rise. In 1981, more than 33,000 people received ECT; in 2001, nearly 100,000 underwent the procedure.