> As those who watched the procedure described it, a patient would be rendered unconscious by electroshock.
This makes me think that something akin to electroconvulsive therapy would have caused remission.
This makes me think that something akin to electroconvulsive therapy would have caused remission.
My grandma received it several times...to try to deal with her emotions about my abusive alcoholic grandfather.
For as much as older generations criticize Millennials and Gen Z for being "snowflakes," I'm not sure my grandma's "Greatest Generation" actually handled things better.
https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/electroconvulsive-therapy-ec...
Effects don't last that long (long enough though to get someone out of debilitating depression or mania and time for proper treatment) and need repeated courses to sustain.
There are still issues with memory, where one looses maybe a few days, but also could loose years.
It’s not generally done like in One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. The pulses, voltages, and currents are apparently small and precise.
More recently, “transcranial magnetic stimulation” has been reported similarly effective and seems to be considered something of an evolution beyond ECT, using magnetic fields instead of electric current, and avoiding the need for sedation etc.
I don’t fully understand it all, and I gather there are still a lot of questions about the exact mechanism. The research done so far is said to support some beneficial outcomes in hard-to-treat cases.
As with so many mental health issues, however, doing rigorous double blind studies for example is difficult or impossible.
Anyway, better practice is no longer to just strap people in and shock people in the brain.