A new Web site dedicated to helping both psychiatrists and patients better understand electroconvulsive therapy and how best to take advantage of its benefits is being offered by Max Fink, M.D., of the Long Island (N.Y.) Jewish-Hillside Medical Center.

The professional section answers questions about the use of ECT, case experiences, and treatment practices. It contains information about textbooks, journals, and videotapes; professional membership societies; and opportunities for professional training. From time-to-time, news and notes about ECT around the world, abstracts, meeting announcements, the results of research studies, legal cases, and published articles will be cited.

The patient section of the Web site describes who is treated with ECT, what the patient experiences, the consent procedures, the effects on memory, how ECT is thought to work, and who administers it.

According to the Web site, ECT is used to treat 100,000 mentally ill persons in the United States annually—mostly those who have depression, mania, or psychosis but who have not been helped with other kinds of treatments. Although ECT is both safe and effective, the Web site reports, legislation in many states restricts its use, and some Web sites stigmatize it as well—hence the need for a Web site that provides accurate information about it.

The address of the Web site is <www.electroshock.org>.