<P> In the UK in 1980, an estimated 50,000 people received ECT annually, with use declining steadily since then to about 12,000 per annum in 2002 . It is still used in nearly all psychiatric hospitals, with a survey of ECT use from 2002 finding that 71 percent of patients were women and 46 percent were over 65 years of age . Eighty - one percent had a diagnosis of mood disorder; schizophrenia was the next most common diagnosis . Sixteen percent were treated without their consent . In 2003, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, a government body which was set up to standardize treatment throughout the National Health Service in England and Wales, issued guidance on the use of ECT . Its use was recommended "only to achieve rapid and short - term improvement of severe symptoms after an adequate trial of treatment options has proven ineffective and / or when the condition is considered to be potentially life - threatening in individuals with severe depressive illness, catatonia or a prolonged manic episode". </P> <P> The guidance received a mixed reception . It was welcomed by an editorial in the British Medical Journal but the Royal College of Psychiatrists launched an unsuccessful appeal . The NICE guidance, as the British Medical Journal editorial points out, is only a policy statement and psychiatrists may deviate from it if they see fit . Adherence to standards has not been universal in the past . A survey of ECT use in 1980 found that more than half of ECT clinics failed to meet minimum standards set by the Royal College of Psychiatrists, with a later survey in 1998 finding that minimum standards were largely adhered to, but that two - thirds of clinics still fell short of current guidelines, particularly in the training and supervision of junior doctors involved in the procedure . A voluntary accreditation scheme, ECTAS, was set up in 2004 by the Royal College, but as of 2006 only a minority of ECT clinics in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland have signed up . </P> <P> The Mental Health Act 2007 allows people to be treated against their will . This law has extra protections regarding ECT . A patient capable of making the decision can decline the treatment, and in that case treatment cannot be given unless it will save that patient's life or is immediately necessary to prevent deterioration of the patient's condition . A patient may not be capable of making the decision (they "lack capacity"), and in that situation ECT can be given if it is appropriate and also if there are no advance directives that prevent the use of ECT . </P> <P> ECT was introduced in China in the early 1950s and while it was originally practiced without anesthesia, as of 2012 almost all procedures were conducted with it . As of 2012, there are approximately 400 ECT machines in China, and 150,000 ECT treatments are performed each year . Chinese national practice guidelines recommend ECT for the treatment of schizophrenia, depressive disorders, and bipolar disorder and in the Chinese literature, ECT is an effective treatment for schizophrenia and mood disorders . Although the Chinese government stopped classifying homosexuality as an illness in 2001, electroconvulsive therapy is still used by some establishments as a form of "conversion therapy". </P>

Electroconvulsive therapy and drug therapy for psychological disorders are two types of