In asylums, forms of treatment often varied but remained cruel and almost always consisted of causing pain to the patients in order to get results. One of the most common methods of treatment was electroconvulsive therapy. Also known was shock therapy, electroconvulsive therapy was mainly used to treat schizophrenia, severe depression, and homosexuality(Timeline,2). Discovered by Italian neurologist, Dr. Ugo Cerletti. He first used the electroshock to provoke repeatable reliable epileptic fits in dogs and other animals ("The History of Shock Therapy in Psychiatry "). The process involved alternating current between the skull, ceasing consciousness in the patient and causing a seizure. The treatment was typically done two to three times a week,
Still today it is not known why ECT works but it seems to cause changes in brain chemistry that can quickly reverse symptoms of certain mental illnesses. It is also said that the shock literally shocks the person out of their illness as it is regarded as a punishment for the inappropriate behaviour. Another explanation is that the associated memory loss following shock allows the person to start afresh. They literally ‘forget’ they were suffering from a mental illness. Created in +1934 by Hungarian neuropsychiatrist Ladislas Meduna, [11]. However, ECT was not introduced in England until 1939 when Lothar Kalinowsky, observed the treatment administered in Italy and decided to use it in England due to its promising results. During this time high doses of electricity were administered without anaesthesia and muscle relaxations. This lead to memory loss, fractured bones and other serious side effects, which lead to, much of the stigma attached to ECT, because of these early treatments [12]. ECT is a treatment that is still used today, however much less brutally than in the 1930s.
has manipulated the patients so many times to create the image that electro shock therapy and
After much testing and observations on animals, he decided to try it out on a human. The police had brought a man into the workplace of Cerletti for observation. Cerletti diagnosed the man as Schizophrenic and decided to experiment on him. The man did not give Cerletti permission to do this experiment on him. Written in the article “From the Slaughterhouse to the Madhouse” Cerletti thought that since the police brought him the man that qualified him to treat him as his patient. Cerletti decided to treat him as he saw fit. After the man was shocked the first time, he said “Not another one! It’s deadly!” (Szasz, 1971 p. 65). The patient was discharged after two months with no symptoms of his schizophrenia. Cerletti continued to work with the electroshock therapy until his death.
When medication fails to relax the symptoms of mental illness, there are other options that are tried. Brain stimulation techniques such as electroconvulsive therapy, for example, can be used to treat illnesses that have not responded to standard treatments. Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) has been used to treat psychiatric patients since the late 1938. The main reason for ECT treatments in North America and Europe were to treat mood disorders (bipolar depression, and unipolar depression) and schizophrenia (Pitidhammabhorn et al. 5). Milos Forman’s unrealistic portrayal of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest negatively shaped the general public’s perceptions of this medical procedure. As a result, many unenlightened
In times of distress, people will tend to be more easily influenced, corrupt government officials often take advantage of this aspect of American society to boost otherwise unpopular neoliberal reforms. This phenomenon is called Shock therapy an example of which would include the signing of the Patriot Act following the disaster of the world trade center on September 11, 2001. The U.S was in mass disorientation as corrupt government officials used this to promote the privatization of government programs that were under the supervision of the Department of Homeland Security. This disaster was used as a way to stimulate the privatization of many government regulated sectors, however the most affected was homeland security. Through the use of public dismay of terrorism, the market for security
Electroconvulsive therapy, also known as ECT, is a medical procedure that is used in the treatment of mental illness. In ECT, a small electrical impulse is sent through the brain, resulting in an ephemeral seizure. Though the process is generally effective, modern science is unaware of the explanation behind ECT's success. Its history is filled with a large amount of stigma and the use of ECT as a therapy is still debated today. ECT has evolved to a point where its beneficial effects can be maximized and its adverse effects can be minimized through proper administration.
Prior to the actual treatment, the patient is given general anesthesia and a muscle relaxant. Electrodes are then attached to the patient's scalp and an electric current is applied which causes a brief convulsion. Minutes later, the patient awakens confused and without memory of events surrounding the treatment. This treatment is usually repeated three times a week for two to four weeks. The number of treatments varies from six to twelve. It is often recommended that the patient maintain a limited intake of medication, after the ECT treatments, to reduce the chance of relapse.
Silas Weir Mitchell, an American neurologist, developed rest cure in the late 1800’s for the treatment of hysteria, neurasthenia, and other nervous illnesses that women and some men were going through. Rest cure treatment usually lasted for about six to eight weeks depending on the patient and their progress throughout their treatment. The rest cure patients were completely isolated from family and friends. In some cases patients were not allowed to sew, read, write, or even talking. To help the patient maintain blood flow with very little movement, the doctor would either massage them or use electrotherapy on them. Electrotherapy is the use of electricity currents that pass through the body to stimulate one’s nerves and muscles.(author’s
The groundwork for the development of electroshock therapy was laid in 1935, when a Budapest psychiatrist, Von Meduna, observed that
The two psychological interventions that were administered to McMurphy while in the mental institution were a lobotomy and shock therapy. A lobotomy is the removal of the portion from the frontal lobe of the brain. This procedure’s main goal is to eliminate aggressive or violent behavior. This invention took place in 1935 by Dr. Antonio Egas Moniz. However, by the late 1940s the realization those individuals undergoing lobotomy procedures took place without initiative became apparent. Although the methods of a lobotomy have changed the basic underlying idea of neurosurgery exists today in the form of “psychosurgery” (Encarta 2000). Shock Therapy uses electric current or drugs to control psychotic disorders. In 1933, Dr. Manfred Sakel used drugs and instituted insulin shock to control mainly Schizophrenia. In 1938, Drs. U. Cerletti and L. Bini used electroshock therapy to treat severe depression (i.e. manic depressive psychoses). Alternating current through the brain using parallel
“About 70% of all American women use tampons. On average, a woman will use between 11,000and 16,000 tampons in her lifetime”(Kounang). Nearly every person born as a biological female experiences menstruation, more commonly referred to as a period, for one week out of the month, with the typical period lasting 7 days and recurring after 28 days. The aforementioned tampons and sanitary pads are the most common devices to combat periods, but there is a general lack of regulation surrounding these products. To make women aware of the products that are an integral part of their daily lives, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should require companies to list all ingredients in feminine hygiene products, and the FDA should put warnings on products
This new and innovative technology provides pneumatically generated, very high-pressure acoustic shock waves that are able to travel through your skin to treat the particular area of your body that is affected. This shockwave therapy can help to eliminate calcium deposits in any number of places within your body, as well as stimulate your body's own natural healing process. ESWT is a very inexpensive, noninvasive and effective treatment for people that suffer from a wide variety of conditions with very few side effects.
The director felt this technique was necessary because Gammas, Deltas and Epsilons were previously conditioned to love flowers, books, nature and of course transport. His aim was to abolish everything except transport and after two hundred repetitions of electric shock the infants were conditioned. “After reading Brave New World, one might assume that Huxley feels that conditioning infants is always wrong” (Matter, pg. 149). Electric shock therapy is used today for medical treatment or for behavioral control. Many will argue it is a form of abuse. Police use electric shock in the form of Tasers which is a small device to obtain behavioral control of an out of control individual. While, Psychiatrists use electric shock therapy on patients with mental disorders. Huxley’s desire to study science may have influence the use of these different techniques in his novel in which the government obtained complete control of its
If you've been suffering with plantar fasciitis pain for a long time, you've probably tried all kinds of treatments for it. Sometimes plantar fasciitis heals on its own and other times conservative treatments like physical therapy and splints can help quite a bit. In some cases, treatments don't seem to help. Before your podiatrist considers surgery, he or she may want to try shock wave therapy. It's not always suggested as a form of treatment, but if you're a good candidate, it can possibly help. Here's some information about the procedure.
For the purpose of this assignment the experience of attending Electro-Convulsive Therapy will be discussed. It will include rationale for the procedure, an account of the procedure and the student nurses reflection on the experience using Gibbs’ model of reflection (Jasper 2003). Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a medical treatment for severe mental illness in which a small, carefully controlled amount of electricity is introduced into the brain. This electrical stimulation, used in conjunction with anaesthesia and muscle relaxant medications, produces a mild generalised seizure or convulsion (Mankad et al 2010).