What Is Electroshock Therapy?

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Many people think that electroshock therapy was only used to treat mental illness until the middle of the twentieth century. You may be surprised to learn that this radical therapy is still used as a treatment of last resort for certain diseases. The reason is because electroshock therapy, which triggers a grand mal epileptic seizure in the patient, somehow alleviates symptoms of such mental illnesses as depression. No one knows why the convulsions are effective, but they do seem to help many patients. Because the treatment works is no excuse for torturing people who are already suffering, however, and electroshock in the 1930s was undoubtedly a hideous procedure. Placed on a gurney with electrodes applied to the temples, doctors simply sent

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