what often happened to patients in the early years of using ele course heroctroshock therapy?

by Ike Stroman 10 min read

What is the difference between Electroshock and electroconvulsive therapy?

Oct 31, 2017 · Electroshock therapy and hydrotherapy were among two new methods. With electroshock therapy, small electric shocks were passed through the brains of patients. Hydrotherapy, or water exercises, were developed to help patients. Doctors were also influenced by popular ideas of eugenics in the late 1800s and early 1900s.

Are there any problems with electroshock therapy?

Feb 23, 2016 · This was a randomized, open-label, blinded end point study of 6083 hypertensive patients aged 65–84 years, who otherwise had a relatively low cardiovascular risk profile, with a median follow-up of 4.1 years . Initial treatment options included ACE-I or a diuretics-based regimen (HCTZ and Enalapril were the recommended agents).

What is the origin of electroshock therapy?

Nov 03, 2018 · Electroconvulsive therapy was born. In 1938, Cerletti and his psychiatrist colleague Lucio Bini developed the first ECT device and treated their first human patient, a diagnosed schizophrenic with ...

Can ECT be given earlier in the treatment course?

The client is scheduled for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). During the course of ECT treatments, a nurse should recognize the continued need for which critical intervention? ... What often happened to patients in the early years of using electroshock therapy? 15 answers. QUESTION. What are the three stages of communication repair? 15 answers.

What often happen to patients in the early years of using electroshock therapy?

When ECT was first introduced in the 1930s, it was known as “electroshock therapy.” In its early use, patients regularly suffered broken bones and related injuries during therapy. Muscle relaxants weren't available to control the violent convulsions ECT caused.

What are the long term effects of electric shock treatment?

But some people experience more long-lasting or permanent memory loss, including losing personal memories or forgetting information they need to continue in their career or make sense of their personal relationships. Some people also find they have difficulty remembering new information from after they've had ECT.

What are the effects of electric shock therapy?

The most common side effects of ECT on the day of treatment include nausea, headache, fatigue, confusion, and slight memory loss, which may last minutes to hours. These risks must be balanced with the consequences of ineffectively treated severe psychiatric disorders.

What happens after first ECT treatment?

After the Procedure When you awaken, you may experience a period of disorientation lasting from a few minutes to several hours. Headaches, jaw pain, and muscle soreness may occur. ECT requires a series of treatments, often initiated two to three times a week for a few weeks and then the frequency is tapered down.May 12, 2020

Does ECT damage the brain?

Despite many scientific and governmental authorities having concluded that ECT does not cause brain damage, there is significant evidence that ECT has indeed caused brain damage in some patients, both historically and recently, and evidence that it always causes some form or degree of brain damage.

Does ECT destroy brain cells?

Conclusions: There is no credible evidence that ECT causes structural brain damage.

Is electroshock therapy used on children?

CONCLUSION. It is generally believed that ECT is an effective treatment for children and adolescents suffering from treatment-resistant mental illness, particularly those with primary mood disorders, catatonia, and schizophrenia.

How long does electroshock therapy last?

How long is an ECT procedure? A single ECT session usually lasts one hour. This includes the time the patient will be in the treatment room (approximately 15-20 minutes) and the time spent in the recovery room (approximately 20-30 minutes).

Does ECT have long-term side effects?

Controversy continued as patients reported long-term side effects of ECT, particularly memory loss. Sustained memory loss occurred in certain people over time; some even experienced memory loss long after their major depressive disorder had subsided.

How often is ECT done?

HOW MANY TIMES WILL I NEED TO BE TREATED? People undergoing ECT need multiple treatments. The number needed to successfully treat severe depression can range from 4 to 20, but most people need a total of 6 to 12 treatments. The treatments are usually given three times a week — Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.Apr 7, 2021

How do you recover from ECT?

You can generally return to normal activities a few hours after the procedure. However, some people may be advised not to return to work, make important decisions, or drive until one to two weeks after the last ECT in a series, or for at least 24 hours after a single treatment during maintenance therapy.Oct 12, 2018

In what year was ECT first used as a medical therapy?

Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is used to treat patients with certain types of mental illness, including severe depression, severe mania, and catatonia. It was first developed in the late 1930s, with the first recorded treatments at McLean Hospital taking place in 1941.Dec 1, 2021

Why were Kirkbride hospitals often situated in rural settings?

These hospitals were often situated in rural settings because doctors believed urban areas worsened mental health. Kirkbride’s model encouraged fields, farms, and workshops to support patient health. Patients worked the land, and the gardens also provided patients with food and produce. [3] .

What was the first mental hospital in the US?

The Friends Asylum for the Insane in Philadelphia, founded in 1813, is one such example. Doctors there used a combination of Quaker views and medical science of the era. This was the first private, nonprofit exclusively mental hospital in the US. The Bethphage Mission in Nebraska was another religiously-inspired hospital.

When did hospitals shut down?

From the 1960s to the 1990s, many hospitals and psychiatric institutions shut down, giving way to state-funded programs and services in place of these hospitals. These services strive to address an individual’s needs on a case-by-case basis, rather than aiming to “cure” patients with blanket treatments.

What is the landmark study in African Americans for determining target blood pressure and suitable drug regimen in hypertension control to prevent

Landmark study in African Americans for determining target blood pressure and suitable drug regimen in hypertension control to prevent progressive renal failure. The study failed to show benefits of tight BP control over usual control to slow decline in GFR.

How many people were in the EWHPE trial?

For the EWHPE trial ( 20, 21 ), 840 men and women over 60 years old, with a systolic blood pressure in the range 160–239 mmHg and a diastolic pressure in the range 90–119 mmHg, were randomized to receive active treatment (hydrochlorothiazide with triamterene) or matching placebo.

Where does hypertension come from?

The history of hypertension goes back a long way ( 1 ). In ancient Chinese and Indian Ayurvedic medicine, the quality of an individual’s pulse, as felt by gentle palpation by the trained physician, was a window into the condition of the cardiovascular system.

What is stepwise incremental therapy?

First study to demonstrate benefit in mortality and morbidity by aggressive, goal directed blood pressure treatment with stepwise incremental therapy as opposed to more casual BP management without trying to reach a target BP. This study set the ground rules for future management of BP using incremental therapy – a new concept in managing chronic diseases.

Is isolated systolic hypertension benign?

First randomized controlled trial to show benefits of ­treating isolated systolic hypertension which prior to this most ­remarkable study was considered benign or not amenable to treatment, though isolated systolic hypertension showed more associations with CV morbidities and ­mortalities per Framingham and other studies. The success of this study opened up the ­treatment option to 50 million people in US alone.

When was the ECT procedure first used?

The ECT procedure was first conducted in 1938 by Italian psychiatrist Ugo Cerletti and rapidly replaced less safe and effective forms of biological treatments in use at the time. ECT is often used with informed consent as a safe and effective intervention for major depressive disorder, mania, and catatonia.

How long does it take for a person to relapse from ECT?

There is little agreement on the most appropriate follow-up to ECT for people with major depressive disorder. When ECT is followed by treatment with antidepressants, about 50% of people relapsed by 12 months following successful initial treatment with ECT, with about 37% relapsing within the first 6 months.

How many ECT machines are there in China?

As of 2012, there are approximately 400 ECT machines in China, and 150,000 ECT treatments are performed each year. Chinese national practice guidelines recommend ECT for the treatment of schizophrenia, depressive disorders, and bipolar disorder and in the Chinese literature, ECT is an effective treatment for schizophrenia and mood disorders. Although the Chinese government stopped classifying homosexuality as an illness in 2001, electroconvulsive therapy is still used by some establishments as a form of " conversion therapy ".

When did ECT become popular?

ECT became popular in the US in the 1940s. At the time, psychiatric hospitals were overrun with patients whom doctors were desperate to treat and cure. Whereas lobotomies would reduce a patient to a more manageable submissive state, ECT helped to improve mood in those with severe depression. A survey of psychiatric practice in the late 1980s found that an estimated 100,000 people received ECT annually, with wide variation between metropolitan statistical areas. Accurate statistics about the frequency, context and circumstances of ECT in the US are difficult to obtain because only a few states have reporting laws that require the treating facility to supply state authorities with this information. In 13 of the 50 states, the practice of ECT is regulated by law. In the mid-1990s in Texas, ECT was used in about one third of psychiatric facilities and given to about 1,650 people annually. Usage of ECT has since declined slightly; in 2000–01 ECT was given to about 1500 people aged from 16 to 97 (in Texas it is illegal to give ECT to anyone under sixteen). ECT is more commonly used in private psychiatric hospitals than in public hospitals, and minority patients are underrepresented in the ECT statistics. In the United States, ECT is usually given three times a week; in the United Kingdom, it is usually given twice a week. Occasionally it is given on a daily basis. A course usually consists of 6–12 treatments, but may be more or fewer. Following a course of ECT some patients may be given continuation or maintenance ECT with further treatments at weekly, fortnightly or monthly intervals. A few psychiatrists in the US use multiple-monitored ECT (MMECT), where patients receive more than one treatment per anesthetic. Electroconvulsive therapy is not a required subject in US medical schools and not a required skill in psychiatric residency training. Privileging for ECT practice at institutions is a local option: no national certification standards are established, and no ECT-specific continuing training experiences are required of ECT practitioners.

Is electroconvulsive therapy fiction?

Electroconvulsive therapy has been depicted in fiction, including fictional works partly based on true experiences. These include Sylvia Plath 's autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, Ken Loach's film Family Life, and Ken Kesey 's novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest; Kesey's novel is a direct product of his time working the graveyard shift as an orderly at a mental health facility in Menlo Park, California.

What is ECT used for?

ECT is used to treat people who have severe or prolonged mania; NICE recommends it only in life-threatening situations or when other treatments have failed and as a second-line treatment for bipolar mania.

Who performs ECT?

In the US, the medical team performing the procedure typically consists of a psychiatrist, an anesthetist, an ECT treatment nurse or qualified assistant, and one or more recovery nurses. Medical trainees may assist, but only under the direct supervision of credentialed attending physicians and staff.

How does electroconvulsive therapy work?

Although its exact mechanism of action is unknown, electroconvulsive therapy works by inducing seizure activity via electricity in the frontal lobes of the brain. The treatment itself lasts only several minutes, and a usual course of ECT involves treatment two or three times a week for a few weeks, followed by maintenance therapy on an outpatient ...

Who invented electroconvulsive therapy?

Ugo Cerletti (1877-1963), the father of electroconvulsive therapy. Like many treatments in psychiatry and medicine more generally, ECT was discovered serendipitously (see Lieberman & Ogas, 2015). Early asylum keepers recognized that the symptoms of psychotic patients who also suffered from epilepsy seemed to improve after having a seizure.

Is ECT effective for schizophrenia?

Yet research indicates that nearly 80 years after its discovery, ECT remains the single most effective therapy for treatment-resistant cases of depression and some cases of bipolar affective disorder and schizophrenia.

What is electroconvulsive therapy?

Electroconvulsive therapy is the induction of a grand mal seizure through the application of electrical current to the brain for the purpose of decreasing depression. A chronically depressed and suicidal client is admitted to a psychiatric unit. The client is scheduled for electroconvulsive therapy (ECT).

What is ECT treatment?

D. Encourage high-caloric diet throughout the ECT course of treatment. ANS: A. ECT is an intervention for major depression that often includes suicidal ideations as a symptom. Continued suicide assessment is needed because mood improvement due to ECT may cause the client to act on suicidal ideations.

What is a glycopyrrolate?

Glycopyrrolate (Robinul) is the standard preoperative medication given prior to ECT treatments to decrease secretions and prevent aspiration. A nursing instructor is teaching about the medications given prior to and during electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatments.

Can vagal stimulation cause bradycardia?

Vagal stimulation induced by ECT may cause a client to experience bradycardia. Adequate tissue perfusion would be a realistic expectation when normal cardiac output is restored. A nursing student is observing an electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) treatment. The student notices a blood pressure cuff on the client's lower leg.

What was the belief that people made pacts with the devil?

From the late 1400s to the late 1600s, a common belief perpetuated by some religious organizations was that some people made pacts with the devil and committed horrible acts, such as eating babies (Blumberg, 2007).

What is voluntary treatment?

Voluntary treatment means the person chooses to attend therapy to obtain relief from symptoms. Psychological treatment can occur in a variety of places. An individual might go to a community mental health center or a practitioner in private or community practice.

What was the purpose of asylums?

These people were forced to take part in exorcisms, were imprisoned, or executed. Later, asylums were built to house the mentally ill, but the patients received little to no treatment, and many of ...

Who was Dorothea Dix?

Figure 3. Dorothea Dix was a social reformer who became an advocate for the indigent insane and was instrumental in creating the first American mental asylum. She did this by relentlessly lobbying state legislatures and Congress to set up and fund such institutions.

What is the Madhouse painting?

Figure 1. This painting by Francisco Goya, called The Madhouse, depicts a mental asylum and its inhabitants in the early 1800s. It portrays those with psychological disorders as victims.

What funding sources do mental health providers use?

A range of funding sources pay for mental health treatment: health insurance, government, and private pay. In the past, even when people had health insurance, the coverage would not always pay for mental health services.

Do children get mental health services?

Children and adolescents also receive mental health services. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) found that approximately half (50.6%) of children with mental disorders had received treatment for their disorder within the past year (NIMH, n.d.-c).

How often did ECT patients get treated?

Most patients in the early years of ECT were given treatment two or three times a week, or occasionally daily; a few psychiatrists experimented with more intensive treatment. At St James' Hospital, Portsmouth, William Liddell Milligan gave neurotic patients ECT up to four times daily. His aim was "to reduce the patient to the infantile level, in which he is completely helpless and doubly incontinent". Robert Russell and Lewis Page tried a slightly different regime, giving patients one or two sessions of ECT a day but with several additional electric shocks during the convulsion. This treatment was given to over 3,800 patients at the Three Counties Hospital. Arlesey, Bedfordshire. The Page-Russell technique was taken up by Scottish-American psychiatrist D Ewen Cameron who used it to "depattern" his patients at the McGill University in Canada. It later emerged that the CIA had put funds into Professor Cameron's work. In 1988 nine of his former patients received compensation from the US government; the Canadian government later compensated those patients whose treatment had not been funded by the CIA and court cases continue to this day.

Who was the first person to use ECT?

Early use of ECT in the UK. ECT arrived in the UK with Lothar Kalinowsky, one of Cerletti's assistants, who was on his way to the USA. Kalinowsky demonstrated Cerletti's technique at the Burden Neurological Institute (BNI) and wrote an article about ECT which appeared in the Lancet in December 1939.

What is ECT therapy?

Electroconvulsive therapy ( ECT, in the past sometimes called electric convulsion therapy, convulsion treatment or electroplexy) is a controversial psychiatric treatment in which seizures are induced with electricity. ECT was first used in the United Kingdom in 1939 and, although its use has been declining for several decades, ...

How many people received ECT in 1980?

A total of about 27,000 people received ECT in 1980. The authors of the survey estimated that ECT use had approximately halved since the early 1970s. There was wide regional variation, with the heaviest user, Jersey and Guernsey, using ECT at more than 5 times the rate of the lowest user, the Oxford region.

When was ECT invented?

ECT was invented in Italy in 1938. In 1939 it was brought to England and replaced cardiazol (metrazol) as the preferred method of inducing seizures in convulsion therapy in British mental hospitals.

What is ECT used for?

In contemporary psychiatric practice, ECT is used mainly in the treatment of depression. It is occasionally used in the treatment of other disorders such as schizophrenia. When undergoing modern ECT, a patient is given an anaesthetic and a muscle relaxant.

When did ECT start being used?

The next two and a half decades saw ECT maintain its place as a commonly used psychiatric treatment in spite of the introduction of neuroleptics, antidepressants and benzodiazipines into British psychiatric practice in the late 1950s and early 1960s.

Medical Use

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ECT is used, where possible, with informed consent in treatment-resistant major depressive disorder, treatment-resistant catatonia, prolonged or severe mania, and in conditions where "there is a need for rapid, definitive response because of the severity of a psychiatric or medical condition (e.g., when illness is characterized …
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Effects

  • Aside from effects in the brain, the general physical risks of ECT are similar to those of brief general anesthesia; the US Surgeon General's report says that there are "no absolute health contraindications" to its use.: 259 Immediately following treatment, the most common adverse effects are confusion and memory loss. Some patients experience muscle soreness after ECT. …
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Procedure

  • The placement of electrodes, as well as the dose and duration of the stimulation is determined on a per-patient basis.: 1881 In unilateral ECT, both electrodes are placed on the same side of the patient's head. Unilateral ECT may be used first to minimize side effects such as memory loss. In bilateral ECT, the two electrodes are placed on opposite sides of the head. Usually bitemporal pl…
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Mechanism of Action

  • Despite decades of research, the exact mechanism of action of ECT remains elusive. Neuroimaging studies in people who have had ECT, investigating differences between responders and nonresponders, and people who relapse, find that responders have anticonvulsant effects mostly in the frontal lobes, which corresponds to immediate responses, and neurotrophic effect…
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Use

  • As of 2001, it was estimated that about one million people received ECT annually. There is wide variation in ECT use between different countries, different hospitals, and different psychiatrists.International practice varies considerably from widespread use of the therapy in many Western countries to a small minority of countries that do not use ECT at all, such as Slov…
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History

  • As early as the 16th century, agents to induce seizures were used to treat psychiatric conditions. In 1785, the therapeutic use of seizure induction was documented in the London Medical and Surgical Journal. As to its earliest antecedents one doctor claims 1744 as the dawn of electricity's therapeutic use, as documented in the first issue of Electricity and Medicine. Treatment and cur…
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Society and Culture

  • Controversy
    Surveys of public opinion, the testimony of former patients, legal restrictions on the use of ECT and disputes as to the efficacy, ethics and adverse effects of ECT within the psychiatric and wider medical community indicate that the use of ECT remains controversial. This is reflected in the J…
  • Public perception
    A questionnaire survey of 379 members of the general public in Australia indicated that more than 60% of respondents had some knowledge about the main aspects of ECT. Participants were generally opposed to the use of ECT on depressed individuals with psychosocial issues, on child…
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Special Populations

  • Sex difference
    Throughout the history of ECT, women have received it two to three times as often as men. Currently, about 70 percent of ECT patients are women. This may be due to the fact that women are more likely to be diagnosed with depression. A 1974 study of ECT in Massachusetts reporte…
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See Also

External Links

  1. Position Statement on Electroconvulsive Therapy (ECT) 2015 – from the American Psychiatric Association.
  2. ECT- information from mental health charity The Royal College of Psychiatrists
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