Shock therapy describes a set of techniques used in psychiatry to treat depressive disorder or other illnesses, by inducing seizures or other extreme brain states. It was started in the 1930s.
Shock therapy covers multiple forms.
The only form in current clinical practice is
electroconvulsive therapy
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a psychiatric treatment where a generalized seizure (without muscular convulsions) is electrically induced to manage refractory mental disorders.Rudorfer, MV, Henry, ME, Sackeim, HA (2003)"Electroconvulsive th ...
. Other forms, no longer in use, include:
*
Insulin shock therapy
Insulin shock therapy or insulin coma therapy was a form of psychiatric treatment in which patients were repeatedly injected with large doses of insulin in order to produce daily comas over several weeks.Neustatter WL (1948) ''Modern psychiatry ...
, introduced by Manfred
Sakel in 1933 for the treatment of
schizophrenia
Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by continuous or relapsing episodes of psychosis. Major symptoms include hallucinations (typically hearing voices), delusions, and disorganized thinking. Other symptoms include social w ...
.
This resulted in a coma state for a short amount of time.
*Convulsive therapy, using
pentylenetetrazol or other agents to induce seizures. The first use was with
cardiazol
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 ...
by
von Meduna of Budapest; the belief at the time was there was "some kind of biological antagonism between schizophrenia and epilepsy".
*
Deep sleep therapy.
Shock therapy has fallen away in use in lieu of other forms of treatment.
See also
*
Shock therapy (disambiguation)
References
History of psychiatry
Physical psychiatric treatments
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