Carrie Fisher: 'Shock therapy really helps me'

Star Wars actress Carrie Fisher has declared that undergoing electroconvulsive therapy has frequently helped quell her battle with depression.

Fisher, who was once married to singer Paul Simon, has denied the controversial procedure is painful, telling Entertainment Tonight that she feels "nothing" during each treatment.

"It just puts you to sleep. There's no convulsions," the actress insisted. "It actually really helps; I don't have to take as much medication. It gets a bad rap. The only way it's showed in films is as a punishment."

The personal and professional struggles in Fisher's turbulent life have proven to be engaging subject matter for her one-woman stage show Wishful Drinking, which is to be released on DVD in September.

"I've lived in very interesting times. I have stories. But if you make them funny it's the best alchemy in the world. And I've had things in my life, when they happened at the time, they were not funny," she explained.

"When you can turn something like that into entertainment, that's a real gift. I'm really grateful that I can do that."

Fisher joined weight loss company Jenny Craig as a spokesperson in January and recently admitted that gaining weight in recent years had proven to be a dangerous health risk.

Watch a clip from Carrie Fisher's stage show Wishful Drinking below: