Research Catalog

Title

Shock therapy : a history of electroconvulsive treatment in mental illness / Edward Shorter, David Healy.

Author

Shorter, Edward.

Publication

New Brunswick, N.J. : Rutgers University Press, [2007], ©2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Healy, David, 1954-

Description

xii, 382 pages : illustrations; 24 cm

Summary

"Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, has in the last thirty years been considered a method of last resort in the treatment of debilitating depression, suicidal ideation, and other forms of mental illness. Yet, ironically, its effectiveness in treating these patients would suggest it as a frontline therapy, bringing relief from acute symptoms and saving lives. In this book, Edward Shorter and David Healy trace the controversial history of ECT and other "shock" therapies. Drawing on case studies, public debates, extensive interviews, and archival research, the authors expose the myths about ECT that have proliferated over the years." "By showing ECT's often life-saving results, Shorter and Healy endorse a point of view that is hotly contested in professional circles and in public debates, but for the nearly half of all clinically depressed patients who do not respond to drugs, this book brings much needed hope."--BOOK JACKET.

Subjects

• Electroconvulsive Therapy > history
• Mental Disorders > therapy
• Electroconvulsive therapy > History
• History, 20th Century

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. [299]-362) and index.

Contents

Ch. 1. The Penicillin of Psychiatry? -- Ch. 2. "Some Experiments on the Biological Influencing of the Course of Schizophrenia" -- Ch. 3. "Madness Cured with Electricity" -- Ch. 4. From the University Clinic to the Psychiatric Institute: Shock Therapy Goes Global -- Ch. 5. The Couch or the Treatment Table? -- Ch. 6. "ECT Does Not Create Zombies" -- Ch. 7. "They're Going to Fry Your Brains!" -- Ch. 8. The End of "Bedlam" and the Age of Psychopharmacology -- Ch. 9. The Swinging Pendulum: The Effects of Politics, Law, and Changes in Medical Culture on ECT -- Ch. 10. Electrogirl and the New ECT -- Ch. 11. Magnets and Implants: New Therapies for a New Century? -- Ch. 12. Epilogue: Irrational Science.

ISBN

• 9780813541693 (hardcover : alk. paper)
• 0813541697 (hardcover : alk. paper)

LCCN

2006039516

OCLC

• ocm76864297
• 76864297
• SCSB-5372936

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries