Experiences in the Treatment of Depressive States by Electrically Induced Convulsions

Abstract

When von Meduna in 1935 introduced convulsion therapy, his hypothesis that schizophrenia and epilepsy were incompatible diseases suggested that convulsion therapy was applicable only to cases of schizophrenia. Similarly, Sakel, when introducing insulin shock, proposed it as a treatment to be applied essentially to schizophrenia. It is thus not surprising that most psychiatrists at first devoted their main attention to comparing the results obtained from treating schizophrenia by these alternative methods of “shock” rather than in studying their effects on other forms of psychosis. However, Low and co-workers (1) in 1938 reported having obtained very encouraging results from giving metrazol-induced convulsions to a group of sixteen manic-depressive cases, and very shortly afterwards Bennett (2) issued a preliminary report on ten cases of the depressive psychosis in which he stated he had found a remarkable improvement following cardiazol convulsion treatment.