PORTRAYAL OF ECT IN MOVIES FROM AUSTRALIA AND NEW-ZEALAND

The portrayal of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in recent Australian and New Zealand movies is considered. ECT scenes from the films An Ang el at My Table (1990), Cosi (1996), and Shine(1996) are described in d etail. Overall, the portrayal has been negative but arguably might hav e been worse. The representation of ECT is also compared with the depi ction of psychotropic drug treatments in films from Australia and New Zealand with the portrayal Of ECT in written fiction from the two coun tries of ECT in American movies. The potential ways in which can seek to modify distorted cinema depictions are presented.