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 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 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.
