Overview Of Electroshock Therapy

Since childhood, depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder continually destroyed a man’s life. After seeking help for many years and attempting multiple methods, such as medication and psych wards, the doctors had one option left: electroshock therapy. Although he was skeptical of its efficacy, the physician finally convinced him to follow through with the procedure. The doctors directed the man to an operating table, where he was put under anesthesia. The next thing he knew, he woke up feeling fantastic and ready to return home. If this treatment was not an option, his depression and mental disorders would have harmfully affected his life and his whole family. Thankfully, several advancements have improved electroshock therapy to the point
This style of therapy has existed for many years, but it only became safe and prominent in the 1930s. Before then, in forty seven AD, a “court physician” would treat patients headaches by using an “electric torpedo fish” on their head. This would consequently result in a temporary cure for the patient's headache. Numerous years later, in the eighteenth century, physicians would use electrical devices to cure body symptoms that individuals were facing (Katsnelson). In fact, this would be the primary breakthrough which has made a significant impact on the discovery of electroshock therapy. Many years later, an Italian neurologist by the name of Ugo Cerletti, introduced electroshock therapy as a way to treat patients with major depression, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia (Kelly and Kelly). Specifically, this treatment was the first of its kind to use electricity instead of using harsh chemicals like the other doctors at this time. Being the first treatment like this, many scientists were surprised and shocked at how much faster it worked on the patient (Cloud). When ECT was first administered on patients, the jolts of electricity were much stronger and less targeted on the brain. Additionally, patients experiencing this treatment would not be induced with anesthesia or any drugs to diminish the pain on their body
When ECT was first discovered, it was very harmful and hazardous to the patient’s body. But after many years of improvement, ECT is now considered to be a safe, reliable and effective way for treating individuals with mental illnesses (Kelly). This improvement has been a result of doctors who have discovered new techniques with beneficial results for the patients; saying that ECT is “no longer a source of torture” (“The Return”). Additionally, these new results have increased the success rate and reliability for the treatments. According to this month’s American Journal of Psychiatry, ECT is producing “consistent and dramatic results” for those patients suffering from mental disorders. Also, this treatment has been acknowledged the best treatment by having a seventy to ninety percent success rate