Description
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Shock Therapy is based on contemporary research that includes both manuscript and printed sources as well as interviews with individuals who have played key roles in the history of ECT. It is a controversial work, if only because its authors combine both historical analysis and advocacy. Nevertheless, the book—which includes discussions of such contemporary therapeutic innovations as VNS, DBS, and TMS—is a must-read and has relevance for those concerned with the treatment of mental disorders." -- Gerald N. Grob * coauthor of The Dilemma of Federal Mental Health Policy: Radical Reform or Incr *
"This book has groundbreaking potential, and its readability is strengthened by the use of many primary documents, including detailed journal entries and transcripts of interviews with the original scientists involved." * Library Journal *
"Riveting. Apart from describing the origins and continuing evolution of convulsive therapy, the text provides an intimate 'behind the scenes' glimpse into the personalities, careers, and factors motivating the major players in the treatment's history.
Shock Therapy is a highly readable...book that may pique the interest of child and adolescent psychiatrists in this and related treatment modalities." * Child and Adolescent Psychiatry *
Table of ContentsThe penicillin of psychiatry?
"Some experiments on the biological influencing of the course of schizophrenia"
"Madness cured with electricity"
From the university clinic to the psychiatric institute: shock therapy goes global
The couch or the treatment table?
"ECT does not create zombies"
"They're going to fry your brains!"
The end of "Bedlam" and the age of psychopharmacology
The swinging pendulum: the effects of politics, law, and changes in medical culture on ECT
Electrogirl and the new ECT
Magnets and implants: new therapies for a new century?
Epilogue: irrational science
