Shock-Therapy in Psychoses: A Possible Rational Basis and its Clinical Applications, Based on Three Years' Experience of its use in Military Psychiatry

Abstract

In spite of the voluminous literature on the shock-therapies which has appeared in recent years, there is as yet little unanimity of opinion among psychiatrists as to the value of the anoxic and hypoglycaemic shock-therapies, and their indications, possible scope and limitations in the treatment of psychoses. Most potent in perpetuating this unsatisfactory state of affairs have been the too-rigid reliance on masses of statistics in evaluating results of treatment, the oft-repeated statement that the therapy is purely empirical, and last, but not least, the unfortunate publicity which it received at its inception, the result being that lately there has been a tendency to discredit the therapy, and a growing scepticism as to its efficacy.