Abram Elting Bennett (1898–1985) was an American

psychiatrist A psychiatrist is a physician who specializes in psychiatry, the branch of medicine devoted to the diagnosis, prevention, study, and treatment of mental disorders. Psychiatrists are physicians and evaluate patients to determine whether their sy ...

best known for his work on

electroconvulsive therapy Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatry, psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroco ...

(ECT).Shorter, Edward (2005). ''A Historical Dictionary of Psychiatry''. Oxford University Press Bennett published over 50 research articles and several books, including ''Fifty Years in Neurology and Psychiatry'' (1972), ''Alcoholism and the Brain'' (1977) and ''Huguenots Migration: Descendants' Contributions to America'' (1984). In the 1930s, Bennett introduced the use of

curare Curare ( /kʊˈrɑːri/ or /kjʊˈrɑːri/; ''koo-rah-ree'' or ''kyoo-rah-ree'') is a common name for various alkaloid arrow poisons originating from plant extracts. Used as a paralyzing agent by indigenous peoples in Central and South ...

to prevent fractures and other adverse side effects caused by shock treatments. He also advocated

pentylenetetrazol Pentylenetetrazol, also known as pentylenetetrazole, leptazol, metrazol, pentetrazol (INN), pentamethylenetetrazol, Corazol, Cardiazol, Deumacard, or PTZ, is a drug formerly used as a circulatory and respiratory stimulant. High doses cause convuls ...

to induce convulsions in patients. Shorter, Edward and David Healy (2007). ''Shock Therapy: A History of Electroconvulsive Treatment in Mental Illness''. Rutgers University Press, Bennett was affiliated with

Johns Hopkins University Johns Hopkins University (Johns Hopkins, Hopkins, or JHU) is a private university, private research university in Baltimore, Maryland. Founded in 1876, Johns Hopkins is the oldest research university in the United States and in the western hem ...

, Bishop Clarkson Memorial Hospital in

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Nebraska and the county seat of Douglas County. Omaha is in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's 39th-largest cit ...

and the

California Pacific Medical Center Sutter Health California Pacific Medical Center (CPMC) is a general medical/surgical and teaching hospital in San Francisco, California. It was created by a merger of some of the city's longest established hospitals and currently operates three ac ...

. He contributed to the second edition of the ''

Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders The ''Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders'' (DSM; latest edition: DSM-5-TR, published in March 2022) is a publication by the American Psychiatric Association (APA) for the classification of mental disorders using a common langua ...

'' and earlier was also one of the many consultants involved in the creation of the DSM-1.

References

External links

Pioneers: Abram Elting Bennett, M.D.
via California Pacific Medical Center 1898 births 1985 deaths American psychiatrists 20th-century physicians {{US-psychiatrist-stub