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 Essay on New Research Indicates That Drug Therapy Is More
For decades, psychologists have devised many treatment regimes for schizophrenia patients, with varying degrees of success and effectiveness. There have been great obstacles in their efforts, mainly due to the fact that patients of schizophrenia lack insight into their impaired conditions. Often patients refuse treatment of any kind because they do not perceive any mental illness associated with ...
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 seizures. The reason why
electroshock therapy relieves depression is still unknown. Researchers believe that
Electroshock therapy alters monoamine function, as do the anti-depressant drugs. The
process of inducing seizures through electroshock is not as complicated or as dangerous
as people think. The patient is placed in a specially equipped room, where a clinical team
first issues intravenous general anesthetic. After this a muscle relaxant is given to the
patient. Oxygen is administered and an electric current is applied through electrodes. The
patient undergoing the ECT does not feel the electric current, and the only reaction
noticeable is the patients toes curling (Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.78).
The placing of electrodes is still a matter of ongoing research. In unilateral treatment the
electrodes are placed two or three inches apart on the same side of the head. The side that
is chosen is the same side as the dominant hand. This method is said to reduce short term
memory loss and confusion, another method of ECT is placing the electrodes over both
temples. This method is proved to work better than unilateral treatment(Mental Illness
Assessment and Treatment p.79).
Electroshock therapy consists of a series of treatments,
a patient is usually scheduled for two to three times a week for six to twelve treatments of
depression. The treatment tine for schizophrenia is usually twenty-five to thirty treatment.
The Essay on Ect Treatments Used By Psychiatrists
ECT, Shock, Electroconvulsive Therapy, ElectroShock, EST, Shock Treatment and Electric Shock Treatment are all the same thing. They all refer to a treatment where psychiatrists send large electric currents through the brains of their unfortunate victims. ECT is one of the front-line treatments used by psychiatrists to treat depression and other psychiatric problems. I believe ECT to be a very ...
The entire ECT process takes anywhere from twenty to forty minutes from start to finish
(Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.79).
Even though ECT predominantly effective, there are many risks involved including
drowsiness and confusion for about an hour. Short-term memory loss will occur, but
there memory will come back to them in tine. Another risk of ECT is the patient’s heat is
affected by the seizures and the drugs, i.e. muscle relaxants, anesthesia, and barbiturates.
Side effects such as headaches, speech loss, nausea, muscle soreness, and skin burns (
around the electrode sights).
These sides effects go away within a few hours, with
acceptation of speech loss coordination which might take up to six months to
recover(Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.79).
Depression is a disorder that affects millions of people everyday, some of these
people have suicidal urges and need help desperately. They could take antidepressant
drugs, but these become addictive and have sides effects such as nausea, vomiting,
digestive problems, drowsiness, damage to hearing and sight, also it could lead to stronger
depression. These anti-depressant drugs are only temporary relief. These medications’
can also have long term damages too, but only five percent of users reported this (Jack
Mendelson, MD p.25).
Schizophrenic victims, contrary to popular belief, are highly intelligent, but tend to
see life as a collage of disassociated and often frightening impressions. These people also
have trouble coping with the outside world, and are usually locked away in hospitals for
life on strong prescription of medications. These do not solve their problems, whereas
electroshock therapy can solve their problems for life with side-effects lasting only six
months at the most amount of time. ECT can solve both these clinical conditions
permanently, but there are still those in society that look down upon ECT because of past
rumors, and their lack of up-to-date knowledge of this subject. Doctors seem to use ECT
The Essay on Electroshock Therapy Memory Loss
The groundwork for the development of electroshock therapy was laid in 1935, when a Budapest psychiatrist, Von Me duna, observed that epilepsy was extremely uncommon among schizophrenics. He also noted that schizophrenic symptoms tended to disappear after seizures. Accordingly, he set out to find a way to induce epileptic-like convulsions to help schizophrenics. He first tried administering ...
as a last resort after contaminating patients’ bodies with drugs.
Electroshock therapy is not only a good idea, but in some cases a necessity. For
example if there is a person going through manic-depression this can be a very helpful
cure. Especially if this person may have suicidal tendencies. “It also helps many
individuals who can not tolerate the standard medications prescribed for mental illness.
(Dabiri USA Today).
A lot of medications used for depression and schizophrenia such as
prozac have terrible side effects and are being considered to be taken off the
pharmaceutical market. Prozac was first used in the 1930’s in Italy and is still used, while
temporary drugs(prozac, ritalin) will eventually reach a downfall. The trend of depression
has risen greatly in the 90’s and some people really do need such treatments as ECT to
help. Electroshock therapy is not a popular practice in the mental illness treatment field.
Many people still believe that it is barbaric and does not deserve a place in today’s society.
People still have dark and gory images of ECT from such books as One Flew Over the
Cuckoos Nest, where ECT was graphically portrayed as a grisly machine that enhanced
dementia.
This is not necessarily true though, ECT is more safe and effective than
alternative drugs used to treat these symptoms can become addictive and sometimes lethal,
oh yes lethal! Maybe some day people will see electroshock therapy not as a danger, but
as a productive way to rid mental illness. ECT may seem risky and dangerous at the time,
but with science and technological advances improving daily, this could be a miracle cure
for widespread mental illness that affects many different people all over the world. 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.
The Essay on Treatment of indigenous people in the United States and Canada
Why was their not a significant metis population in the United States? What does the difference mean? The treatment of the indigenous people in the United States was different from the treatment in Canada. In the United States westward expansion brought settlers and government forces into conflict with the indigenous people of North America. The indigenous people resisted the efforts of the United ...
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 seizures. The reason why
electroshock therapy relieves depression is still unknown. Researchers believe that
Electroshock therapy alters monoamine function, as do the anti-depressant drugs. The
process of inducing seizures through electroshock is not as complicated or as dangerous
as people think. The patient is placed in a specially equipped room, where a clinical team
first issues intravenous general anesthetic. After this a muscle relaxant is given to the
patient. Oxygen is administered and an electric current is applied through electrodes. The
patient undergoing the ECT does not feel the electric current, and the only reaction
The Essay on Cocaine Process Treatment Drug
For many centuries people have used different drugs for various reasons. Depending on which decade you are in there are particular drugs of preference and abundant usage. Cocaine is most commonly used among 18-25 year olds rather then other age groups. I chose cocaine because it is what effects people my age most commonly. Cocaine was first used in the late 1800's as a local anesthetic during ...
noticeable is the patients toes curling (Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.78).
The placing of electrodes is still a matter of ongoing research. In unilateral treatment the
electrodes are placed two or three inches apart on the same side of the head. The side that
is chosen is the same side as the dominant hand. This method is said to reduce short term
memory loss and confusion, another method of ECT is placing the electrodes over both
temples. This method is proved to work better than unilateral treatment(Mental Illness
Assessment and Treatment p.79).
Electroshock therapy consists of a series of treatments,
a patient is usually scheduled for two to three times a week for six to twelve treatments of
depression. The treatment tine for schizophrenia is usually twenty-five to thirty treatment.
The entire ECT process takes anywhere from twenty to forty minutes from start to finish
(Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.79).
Even though ECT predominantly effective, there are many risks involved including
drowsiness and confusion for about an hour. Short-term memory loss will occur, but
there memory will come back to them in tine. Another risk of ECT is the patient’s heat is
affected by the seizures and the drugs, i.e. muscle relaxants, anesthesia, and barbiturates.
Side effects such as headaches, speech loss, nausea, muscle soreness, and skin burns (
around the electrode sights).
These sides effects go away within a few hours, with
acceptation of speech loss coordination which might take up to six months to
recover(Mental Illness Assessment and Treatment p.79).
Depression is a disorder that affects millions of people everyday, some of these
people have suicidal urges and need help desperately. They could take antidepressant
drugs, but these become addictive and have sides effects such as nausea, vomiting,
digestive problems, drowsiness, damage to hearing and sight, also it could lead to stronger
depression. These anti-depressant drugs are only temporary relief. These medications’
can also have long term damages too, but only five percent of users reported this (Jack
The Essay on Models of Mental Illness
According to authors Robert Perrucci and Steven Wallach, the three models of mental illness are the medical, the behavioral and the societal reaction models. (271). The medical model of mental illness focuses on the structural or physical abnormalities in a patient’s brain which trigger the mental illness. It is concerned with the treatment of the illness and prevention thereof. Thus, this model ...
Mendelson, MD p.25).
Schizophrenic victims, contrary to popular belief, are highly intelligent, but tend to
see life as a collage of disassociated and often frightening impressions. These people also
have trouble coping with the outside world, and are usually locked away in hospitals for
life on strong prescription of medications. These do not solve their problems, whereas
electroshock therapy can solve their problems for life with side-effects lasting only six
months at the most amount of time. ECT can solve both these clinical conditions
permanently, but there are still those in society that look down upon ECT because of past
rumors, and their lack of up-to-date knowledge of this subject. Doctors seem to use ECT
as a last resort after contaminating patients’ bodies with drugs.
Electroshock therapy is not only a good idea, but in some cases a necessity. For
example if there is a person going through manic-depression this can be a very helpful
cure. Especially if this person may have suicidal tendencies. “It also helps many
individuals who can not tolerate the standard medications prescribed for mental illness.
(Dabiri USA Today).
A lot of medications used for depression and schizophrenia such as
prozac have terrible side effects and are being considered to be taken off the
pharmaceutical market. Prozac was first used in the 1930’s in Italy and is still used, while
temporary drugs(prozac, ritalin) will eventually reach a downfall. The trend of depression
has risen greatly in the 90’s and some people really do need such treatments as ECT to
help. Electroshock therapy is not a popular practice in the mental illness treatment field.
Many people still believe that it is barbaric and does not deserve a place in today’s society.
People still have dark and gory images of ECT from such books as One Flew Over the
Cuckoos Nest, where ECT was graphically portrayed as a grisly machine that enhanced
dementia.
This is not necessarily true though, ECT is more safe and effective than
alternative drugs used to treat these symptoms can become addictive and sometimes lethal,
oh yes lethal! Maybe some day people will see electroshock therapy not as a danger, but
as a productive way to rid mental illness. ECT may seem risky and dangerous at the time,
but with science and technological advances improving daily, this could be a miracle cure
for widespread mental illness that affects many different people all over the world.
