In 1974 the California legislature made getting ECT in that state almost impossible, and in 1983 the city of Berkeley outlawed it entirely. In both instances courts overturned the laws. But the illnesses against which ECT is used are extremely serious. At best, they cause enormous suffering. In surveys, individuals with both a history of severe depression and a history of physical trauma due to an accident ranked the pain of mental illness as much worse than that of physical trauma.
Schizophrenia is even more devastating.
ECT can restore lives. Kohloff has pointed out that the late world-renowned virtuoso Vladimir Horowitz, one of the greatest pianists of the 20th century, abandoned his career for a decade because of depression. ECT ultimately rescued him, and he resumed playing in public. Whether he forgot who had attended a family birthday party held months before his treatment is not recorded. But, as Kohloff has observed, it is a fact that after treatment Horowitz played pieces whose playing required memorizing hundreds of thousands of notes.