A. Thesis Statement
Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) is a treatment for severe mental illness in which the brain is stimulated with a strong electrical current which induces a seizure. The seizure rearranges the brain's neurochemistry and results in an elevation of mood. This essay asks: Is ECT any safer and more effective in treating mood disorders than drug therapies? This treatment has a controversial history ever since it was first introduced in 1938. I intend to argue that electroconvulsive therapy is indeed a safe treatment of mental disorders when other treatments have failed. Due to the development of safer and less traumatic ways of administering ECT, the treatment has made a comeback, is greatly used, and proves to be effective.
B. Historical Context
The original use of electricity as a cure for “insanity” dates back to the beginning of the 16th century when electric fish were used to treat headaches. Electroconvulsive therapy on humans originates from research in the 1930’s into the effects of camphor-induced seizures in people with schizophrenia (Guttmacher, 1994). In 1938, two Italian researchers, Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bini, were the first to use an electric current to induce a seizure in a delusional, hallucinating, schizophrenic man. The man fully recovered after eleven treatments. This led to a rapid spread of the use of ECT as a way to induce therapeutic convulsions in the mentally ill. Lothar Kalinowsky, Renato Almansi, and Victor Gonda are further responsible in spreading ECT from Italy to North America (Endler, 1988). Although there is some confusion as to who exactly is credited for administering the first ECT in America, it is known that it occurred in the early 1940.
When ECT was first introduced, it was a terrifying and hazardous procedure: patients suffered serious side effects, even breaking a bone from convulsions (Nairne, Smith & Lindsay, 2001). It has been criticized since its beginnings, and only recently it has begun to be seen more positively. The major reason for this is the fact that the treatment went through significant changes over the years – it is now much safer than before. Nowadays, patients are given a general anaesthetic and medications that relax the muscles to prevent injuries from occur. However, most professionals still consider it to be a treatment of last resort. It is used when people have shown...
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...ects, which in my opinion shows that its introduction into society (decriminalization) could benefit the community in many aspects (such as volunteering for a good cause) due to the increased sensibility that one may develop in regards to the society/others. I find that society has been misinformed about this chemical, seeing it solemnly as dangerous substance and classifying it along with physically harmful and potentially deadly substances such as heroin and cocaine. Not only is psilocybin non-lethal, but its potential for abuse is lower than that of caffeine. To summarize and conclude, I find that used responsibly, psilocybin along with other entheogens can be beneficial for one’s mental health and that more light needs to be shed on its benefits to allow society to see it in a different angle rather than what is propagated through the media about it today.
Unlike Naomi, Eric does not respond to drug therapy. Therefore, instead of a drug therapy, Eric receives the electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) or brain stimulation often an effective treatment for patients like Eric with severe depression who does not respond to a drug therapy. By shocking the brain, the ECT manipulates the brain’s chemical imbalance produced by the social-cultural stress experience. But after eleven ECTs in a month, Eric cannot function because of the temporary side effects of memory loss and confusion affecting his concentration to play the viola and his well-being. Then after four months of receiving ECT treatment, Eric returns to normal social functioning as a musician. Six months later, Eric is still playing the viola and has had no recurrence of his
Introduction: For my research project I would like to explore the effectiveness of antidepressant drugs. Antidepressant drugs are used are used to treat major depression and other conditions, some of which include anxiety, obsessive compulsive disorder, chronic pain and other disorders. Around the world antidepressants are used to cure these types of mental illnesses. It is argued by both medical professionals and other people whether or not they believe that antidepressants work. According to Mayo Clinic one in ten Americans take an antidepressant. Today, antidepressants have became the most common way around the world to treat major depression
After attempting suicide for the eleventh time last November, she was sent to Sacramento, Calif. to a depression specialist. Everyday for two weeks, Figureoa underwent Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), in which electric currents are briefly applied to the brain. This procedure is used to help ease only the most severe cases of de...
... in assisting those who care about the bipolar individual, as well as providing socialization and a means to not feel alone. Generally, as a last resort, electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT is used. An electrical current is passed through the brain. This is thought to change the brain chemistry and increase the mood. This is used only for severe depression or when symptoms are unsuccessfully treated with medications. People with Bipolar Disorder are encouraged to avoid drinking alcohol, avoid the use of street drugs or misusing prescription medications, avoid unhealthy relationships, get plenty of sleep, and exercise on a regular basis. One thing is clear. The person themselves must be active in their own well-being in order to maintain a relatively healthy and productive lifestyle. In so doing, the prognosis for someone diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder is very good.
?What is the role of ECT in the treatment of mania?? Harvard Mental Health Letter. June 1997.
Electroconvulsive therapy, or ECT, is a highly effective yet controversial psychiatric method that involves sending electric shockwaves into the brain to cure various mental ailments. Because the populace is not typically educated by psychiatrists on techniques such as ECT, their knowledge comes from inaccurate, and mostly negative, descriptions in the media dictated by non-psychiatrists. Additionally, many patient families are skeptical of ECT because it is not common practice to allow non-medical staff in the therapy room. Furthermore, some psychiatrists perceive this treatment as callous because it is occasionally used without the consent of a patient, should they not be mentally stable. Moreover, because of strong public opposition, ECT
Weiten, W., Dunn, D.S., Hammer, E.Y. (2011). Psychology Applied to Modern Life. Belmont, Ca. Cengage Learning
Several strides have been made in the medical field in regards to electroconvulsive therapy. The treatment is defined as “a medical procedure in which a brief electrical stimulus is used to induce a cerebral seizure under controlled conditions” (Enns, Reiss & Chan, 2010). It is used for a handful of mental illnesses, such as major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia, but when it was introduced in 1938 by Ugo Cerletti and Lucio Bin, its main use was to treat schizophrenia (Enns, Reiss & Chan, 2010). ECT can indeed be effective for schizophrenia, but the best results are when the “… duration of [the] illness is relatively brief or when catatonic or affective symptoms are prominent” (Enns, Reiss & Chan, 2010). Unlike schizophrenia, the best results from ECT have come from treatments with patients who have been diagnosed with major depressive disorder and alternative methods are no longer working...
Passer, M., Smith, R., Holt, N., Bremner, A., Sutherland, E., & Vliek, M. (2009). Psychology; Science of Mind and Behaviour. (European Edition). New York.
...ives to treating Epilepsy and its effects. Typically most doctors will prefer to keep the medicinal treatment as natural as possible. Although not many people have seizure alert dogs, they are out there and available as an alternative. However, if one’s Epileptic seizures are interrupting one’s normal day to day life activities that one partakes in, antiepileptic drugs may be the next step towards Epilepsy management. I have found through research that a corpus colostomy surgical procedure is only performed in severe cases of Epileptic seizures, and is only done as a last step towards treatment. All in all, I have come to find that Epilepsy can be treated and or controlled through the use of these resources. Nonetheless, as with many treatments used to treat Epilepsy, there are positive outcomes as well as possible consequences affiliated with these treatments.
Davis, S. F., & Palladino, J. J. (2003). Psychology. (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
The diagnosis of epilepsy is usually made after the patient experiences a second unprovoked seizure (Leppik, 2002). Diagnosis is often difficult, however, since it is unlikely that the physician will actually see the patient experience and epileptic seizure, and therefore must rely heavily on patient’s history. An electroencephalography (EEG) is often used to examine the patient’s brain waves, and some forms of epilepsy can be revealed by a characteristic disturbance in electrical frequency (Bassick, 1993). The variations in frequency can take form as spikes or sharp waves (Fisher, 1995). The variations are divided into two groups, ictal electrograph abnormalities, which are disturbances resulting from seizure activity, and interictal electrograph abnormalities, or disturbances between seizures. The EEG can also give clues as to which region of the brain the disturbances arise from. Interictal temporal spikes will predict the side of seizure origin in 95% of patients if three times as ...
The 1900s came with a new set of treatments and cause chaos in the psychiatric hospitals. The electroshock therapy was introduced in the 1950s, it was said that the reason for this was to control the brain waves and somehow help the patients recover much faster. The treatments had a constant cycle. Women were given the treatment on Mondays and Thursdays, and men on tuesdays and Fridays. The patients were woken up at the crack of dawn and were dragged “begging, pleading, crying, and resisting” to the treatment area(Quest for a Cure: Care).
Boyd, D., Wood, E.G., Wood, S.E. (2014, 2011, 2008). Mastering the world of psychology. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Education, Inc. 128-129, 329-330, 335-340. Print.