Electroshock Therapy

Electroshock therapy what is it?   How does it work?   What is it used for and what




comes from it?   This paper will answer all of these questions and will also try to prove that




electroshock therapy is useful and not as bad as it appears to be.








Electroshock therapy is an old process of ridding schizophrenia, and depression,




and suicidal tendencies.   It is used when people with major depression are taking too many




anti depressant drugs, can’t take the side-effects of their medication, or they are taking too




many drugs and anti-depressant drugs are too risky to take.   It is also used to irradiate




certain cases of schizophrenia and is being studied to treat dementia. (Mental Illness




Assessment and Treatment p.78).   Convulsive therapy using drugs rather than electricity




was introduced in 1934 by Hungarian neuropsychiatrist   Ladisles meduna , who speculated




that seizures (similar to the ones occurring in epilepsy) could probably alleviate mental




disorders.   He based his theory on the belief that epileptic seizures prevented the




symptoms of schizophrenia.   Although this was a good theory, the drugs administered to




the patients to induce these seizures was too risky to the patients lives.   In 1937




psychiatrists started using electric shocks to induce seizures.   In 1939 ECT was in wide




use in the United States.   In those days ECT was unrefined and resulted in many




complications and was terribly abused.   Today ECT is more refined, safe, and effective




(Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.78).








How does it work?   Electroshock therapy or ECT involves exposing the brain to




carefully controlled pulses of electric current that induce brief...