Electro-convulsive Therapy : a Review
نویسنده
چکیده
Eversince its discovery by Gerletti and Bini (1938), electro-convulsive therapy (E. C. T.) has continued to occupy a central place in the therapeutic armamentarium of psychiatrists. Despite abhorrence from some quarters, it is still being practiced as one of the cheapest and safest, and yet one of the most effective therapeutic techniques in the whole of medical science (Kalinowsky, 1975; Royal College of Psychiatrists, 1977; Shukla etal. ,1979; Shukla, 1981; DeSousa and DeSousa, 1984; Abhyankar, 1985 and Slater and Roth, 1986). These statements are particularly true of developing countries like India where, due to lack of adequate indoor treatment facilities, trained psychiatric personnel and funds, it is imperative that patients are treated quickly and effectively (DeSousa and DeSousa, 1984). This is possible only with the help of E. C. T. used in conjunction with psychopharmacological agents. It is therefore hardly surprising that, in contrast to the developed countries, where E.C.T. is used rather sparingly and almost exclusively in depression, in India it forms the main stay of treatment for all the functional psychoses, particularly schizophrenia and post partum psychosis (Vahia et al., 1974; Shukla, 1981; DeSousa and DeSousa, 1984 and Abhyankar, 1985). E.C.T. has recently become controversial through misrepresentation by the mass media under the unfortunate name of "shock" treatment and has been projected as punitive, noxious and old fashioned in total disregard of its merits (Frederiksen and d'Elia, 1979 and Weiner, 1979). After fifty years of its discovery, it would be worthwhile to assess the present status of this therapeutic modality and to put it in a proper perspective, particularly in the Indian setting.
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