Electroshock Therapy as Treatment of the Severely Mentally Ill

Paper Summary:

This paper is an examination of Electroshock Therapy in the treatment of mental health problems. It focuses on the negative societal views that are held about Electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) and gives a history of its use. The writer argues that there is much ignorance surrounding ECT and that the misuse of the treatment have led to misunderstandings about its effectiveness. In conclusion the paper presents ECT as an effective treatment for severe mental illness. It maintains that despite being viewed negatively by the public it is a valuable treatment particularly in cases where speed of treatment is necessary.

From the Paper:

"In the field of mental health, an area of medicine already associated with very negative societal views, there are few treatment methods more negatively perceived than electroshock, or more commonly, electroconvulsive therapy (ECT). A recent study by two British doctors, published in the Journal of ECT, provided concrete representation of these negative attitudes. After viewing twenty-two films that included scenes of ECT made between 1948 and 2000, the authors concluded the treatment was first shown as a "severe but helpful" remedy for mental illness (McDonald and Walter)."

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