Contemporary modified Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a treatment that is used in current Irish and international clinical practice as a treatment option for individuals with severe depressive illness, catatonia and treatment resistant mania. It is also infrequently used to treat schizophrenia.
ECT is used rarely. In Ireland, about 450 people each year are given ECT. It is estimated that more than 400,000 people at any one time in Ireland experience clinical depression. This usage is similar to that in other European countries.