None of the ten studies found significant differences beyond the end of treatment (Table I). Six did not follow up beyond treatment. Brill et al. (1959) found no significant differences after one month, concluding “It could very well be that the primary therapeutic agent is the psychological meaning of the treatment to the patient” and noting the “influence of the unusual amount of care and attention” involved. The Northwick Park study (Johnstone et al., 1980) found that even the one difference at the end of treatment (for one of three depression subtypes, observed by only one of three groups of raters) had disappeared four weeks later. It actually found a slight advantage for the SECT group. They added: “it is not possible to attribute the loss of advantage of real ECT [at the end of treatment] to differences in the subsequent treatment of the two groups”. The other two studies that followed patients beyond the end of treatment found no differences between ECT and SECT at one or three months (Gregory et al., 1985) or at eight or 24 weeks (Brandon et al., 1984).