Letter: Benefits and drawbacks of electric shock therapy

Sir: Alan Moore defends ECT with the claim that side-effects are transitory, and quotes a survey which found that 50 per cent of patients thought the treatment was less frightening than a visit to the dentist. He could have quoted another finding from the same survey - 30 per cent of patients reported that their memory had never returned to normal after ECT.

Yours faithfully,

SUE KEMSLEY

Cambridge

14 December