This method is based on the view that people's perceptions of themselves and the world control their emotions. Various forms of talk therapy and behavioral exercises are used to dispel negative thought patterns and beliefs. This approach employs the idea that depression is the result of past conflicts that have been pushed back into the patient's unconscious. The therapist meets with the patient several times a week to identify and resolve past conflicts connected to present problems. In this method, human behavior is seen as the sum of one's past experience, genetic inheritance, and current reality.
Treatment is based on psychoanalytic principles but is less intense.
It is provided only once or twice a week and for a shorter time. The procedure is painless and virtually risk-free. Improved antidepressant medications have supplanted ECT for most patients. However, it is still a very effective treatment for those who do not respond to medications, or who cannot take them because of a heart condition, severe malnourishment, or advanced age. When other therapies have failed and suicide is a danger, ECT can be lifesaving.