Doctor's are raving about the "new-look shock therapy" for treating depression.When people think of "shock therapy," they think of the disturbing images from the film, "One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest" when Jack Nicholson is held down and shock therapy is administered and intense pain and seizures ensue.

Doctors say this is not today's reality. The procedure is now called, "Electroconvulsive Therapy" or ECT, which is gentler, more humane and much more successful in treating individuals with severe depression where medication simply doesn't work.

According to the "News-Times," Dr. Charles Herrick, chairman of the psychiatry department at Danbury Hospital said, "It's lifesaving, absolutely live saving!"

Dr. Donna Pellerin, director of ECT services at Danbury Hospital said that the benefits and risks need to be weighed with each patient. She prescribes the treatment only to patients she believes will be able to tolerate it well.

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One of the more well known patients to have ECT therapy was Kitty Dukakis, wife of the former governor of Massachusetts, Michael Dukakis.

Kitty was so severely depressed that she was addicted to pain killers and would drink so much alcohol, she would pass out to get rid of the pain. She often says that if she didn't have ECT treatments, she would not be alive today.

If you are severely depressed, click this link to find doctors who practice ECT therapy in Danbury.

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