Digital Media Center
Bryant-Denny Stadium, Gate 61
920 Paul Bryant Drive
Tuscaloosa, AL 35487-0370
(800) 654-4262

© 2025 Alabama Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Weighing the Risks and Benefits of Shock Therapy

/

Nearly 100 thousand Americans sign up for electro-shock therapy every year to treat severe depression. Many patients call it life-saving, yet scientists still struggle to explain why it is effective. Critics say the procedure is barbaric and that doctors underplay the risk of post-therapy memory loss.

Kitty Dukakis, co-author, Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy

Larry Tye, co-author, Shock: The Healing Power of Electroconvulsive Therapy

Sarah Lisanby, chief of the Brain Stimulation and Neuromodulation Division, Columbia University; chairperson of the American Psychiatric Association Committee on ECT and Related Electromagnetic Therapies; president of the International Society for Transcranial Stimulation

Copyright 2023 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.

News from Alabama Public Radio is a public service in association with the University of Alabama. We depend on your help to keep our programming on the air and online. Please consider supporting the news you rely on with a donation today. Every contribution, no matter the size, propels our vital coverage. Thank you.