School Of Shock By Jennifer Gonnerman Analysis

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Recommended: Negative impacts of Electroshock Therapy on Youth

Response to the “School of Shock:” The “School of Shock” was a riveting exposé written by journalist Jennifer Gonnerman in 2007, it outlined the horrendous abuse of youth in America’s mental health system. After extensively examining the infamous Rotenberg Center that used electrical pain to try to change the behavior of troubled youth, Jennifer Gonnerman wrote a fiery article detailing her examinations in the magazine entitled Mother Jones. Rob Santana, a patient at the Rotenberg Center, woke in a pool of his own sweat almost every morning after having gut-wrenching nightmares about the pain he had to endure for simply being his natural self. What crime did Rob commit for him to have to live in such an immense torment? What could Rob have possibly done to be burdened with this inescapable anxiety? Rob, in a lugubrious tone, stated,"I thought of killing myself a few times." The electrical shocks caused him so much pain that he contemplated suicide as a means to escape his reality at the Rotenberg Center. Not only were there children like Rob suffering from anxiety and depression as the result of receiving repeated electrical shocks, there were children who lost their lives as well. Tragic occurrences at the …show more content…

There are several other, safe, behavioral corrective methods that could be utilized in mental health care facilities. For instance, instead of shocking a patient for behavioral ‘misconduct,’ staff members could pull the patient aside and engage in a calm and peaceful discourse with said patient to delve into the psychiatric root of the behavioral misconduct. This would promote a nurturing environment as opposed to the oppressive environment cultivated by cruel punishment; electrical shock. This would also actively combat the inadvertent exclusion of our mentally ill youth and allow them to feel like normal, cared for, young

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