Today, electroconvulsive therapy is still used to treat those struggling with severe depression, bipolar II, schizophrenia, and other treatment-resistant disorders. An estimated 100,000 people are treated annually across the U.S. Nevertheless, ECT carries stigmas due to its tarnished and sordid history, marred by inhumane and forced procedures, torture, and wild experimentation. We investigate ECT’s controversial past, how the practice has been abused, and how it’s evolved since.