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A Treatment for Mental Illness.
Shocked into Sanity.
Electrical Amnesia.
Doctors believed electric-shock treatment did not greatly endanger patients, except for individuals with severe arterial weakness or with rheumatic hearts. They even reported successful shock therapy with two pregnant women, one in the fourth and the other in the fifth month of gestation. Some patients complained afterward of cramps and soreness in the back and calves of the legs from the convulsions during the seizures. Injuries were greatly reduced after the introduction of nerve-paralyzing drugs and improved hospital techniques. The memory defects lasted from a few weeks after treatment to a few months. "The shock does not destroy memory," reported the doctors. "It merely disorganizes it. . . ." Psychiatrists noted some of the best results when the mental patient was shocked into amnesia and temporarily freed from painful anxieties and depression. But its success in treating...|
This section contains 266 words (approx. 1 page at 300 words per page) |
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