Psychotropic drugs, in use during the past four decades, are the
primary treatment for the mentally ill, but they are often inade-
quate. They may fail to relieve the disorder, or in some cases may
cause side effects that are intolerable. In such instances, electro-
shock is certainly preferable.

Electroshock differs from other psychotropic therapies in its
breadth of action. Although it was introduced as a treatment for
schizophrenia, it was soon found to be equally effective in reliev-
ing the symptoms of depression and mania. And recently it has
been recognized for relieving catatonia, the neuroleptic malignant
syndrome, and parkinsonian rigidity. This broad applicability is
confusing to clinicians who are accusto assigning certain prescrip-
tions for specific disorders.

The trouble with these erroneous perceptions is that patients
are deprived of the treatment's benefits. I have often been told
about a member of a family who has been depressed for many
weeks and no longer responds to the medicines that helped for a
while. The patient has become worse, and the doctor now rec-
ommends electroshock. Would I answer some questions? Is that
treatment still used? Is it safe? What about memory problems?
What are the chances that she will get well? Why didn't the doctor
suggest this in the first place? How does it work?

When distraught family members are advised to consider elec-
troshock therapy for a relative's illness, they may suddenly recall
the bizarre scenes from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, The
Snake Pit, and sensational television talk shows. I will explain why
the therapy is safe, effective for many mental disorders, and vir-
tually painless.

This book contains accounts of several patients I have treated
at University Hospital in Stony Brook, New York, since 1980. The
adult inpatient section of the hospital admits approximately 500
psychiatric patients each year, about 50 of whom are treated with
electroshock (ECT). Names and other identifying features of the
patients have been changed to ensure privacy, but the treatment
information is authentic. ¹

Because convulsive therapy is a technical discipline, it has spawned
its own jargon: convulsive therapy,electroconvulsive therapy,

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