Electroshock: Restoring the Mind

‘Electroshock Therapy’ in the Third Reich

The history of 'electroshock therapy' (now known as electroconvulsive therapy (ECT)) in Europe in the Third Reich is still a neglected chapter in medical history. Since Thomas Szasz's 'From the Slaughterhouse to the Madhouse', prejudices have hindered a thorough historical analysis of the introduction and early application of electroshock therapy during the period of National Socialism and the ...

Electroshock: a crime against the spirit.

Since its introduction in 1938, electroshock (electroconvulsive treatment, ECT) has been to its proponents a blessing and to its critics a curse. The author, himself an insulin coma-electroshock survivor, sides with the critics arguing that ECT is inherently harmful and dehumanizing. To support his views, he cites findings and comments from the professional literature in four areas: brain damag...

Restoring the balance.

Countershock: mobilizing resistance to electroshock weapons.

Electroshock, stun and restraint technologies are often used for torture and as tools of repression. There is much information available exposing the problems with such technologies, but little about how to be effective in challenging their use. The concept of political ju-jitsu--the process by which an attack on a non-violent resister can backfire on the attackers--is introduced and adapted to...

Electroshock : scientific , ethical , and political issues ∗

Electroconvulsive treatment (ECT) is increasingly used in North America and there are attempts to promote its further use world-wide. However, most controlled studies of efficacy in depression indicate that the treatment is no better than placebo with no positive effect on the rate of suicide. ECT is closed-head electrical injury, typically producing a delirium with global mental dysfunction (a...